Rainy Days and Mondays
by LuckyLoveableDork
Summary: Gaining trust from an honorable Swordsman. Not an easy task. Gaining trust with the others, EASY. So what made Zoro very distrustful of the new member? I don't own One Piece. Summary sucks (mission accomplished). ZoroXOC. May be rated M, just in case of major swearing! Also, title might change in the future, I need to think of something fitting.
1. Prologue

**Rules that must be abide.  
**

Rule #1: _Read and familiarize the rules; no one can be too prepared._

Rule #2: _Know your enemy._

Rule #3: _Be clever._

Rule #4:_ Never bite off more than you can chew._

Rule #5: _Be patient._

Rule #6:_ Have the right tools._

Rule #7: _Have a contract._

**_5 years ago..._**

Everyone has their own rules.

_And humans will follow it like fools... _An old witch thought, smoking from her hand-made pipe. "What have become of men?" She said gravely. "Pirates, World Government, and Third Parties... War is just beginning, is it?" she questioned to herself. The Witch has been told to be crazy, by talking to herself. But she's a witch, what else can they expect? Poshness and mannerism?

"Yubaba. There you are." Another old lady appeared with a cane in her hand. "You're son is looking for you - Dear! Don't tell me you're talking to yourself again?"

"For the last time Yolanda, I was talking to the spirits!" The old hag yelled grabbing her wooden staff and pointed at her. "Che! You're lucky you're my Sister-in-law!"

Yolanda chuckled. "Feelings mutual, gypsy-witch." Her blonde hair was mixing in with grey. She wore a old-fashion Victorian style dress as the Witch wore odd clothes that consists of dark earthy colours. She had dark hair and bright eyes with a bit of grey skin. "Oh, right." She stopped walking, turning to the Witch. "That silly girl from the Assassin's Guild managed to run away-"

"WHAT?!"

"She is intending to get away in a wandering vessel loaded with plenty of foreigners and tourists. I believe it will leave in 30 minutes." That vessel is filled with First Class Assassins to fend off intruders. This ship only comes once a year around the summer time.

The Witch cringed. "What is that girl up to? Is she asking a death wish?" She questioned, "And she had so much potential..."

"'Potential'?" Yolanda huffed, "There's no potential in that runt. Now, my Grandsons, _they _have potential." she boasted with a prideful smile.

Yubaba sneered at the other old lady. "You sexist." _Why did my idiot of a husband approved of my son's arranged marriage? Her daughter is a monster! Doll this, doll that - Hmph! _ The Witch thought bitterly. _If it were up to me, it'd be a woman of honor and power._

"Oma! Oma!" yelled the Witch's idiot of a Grandson. But Yolanda's one of many favorite Grandsons.

"WHAT?!" Yubaba bellowed.

This boy was 15 years old with a stout body. He maintained a tough exterior, but really, he was a cry baby. His short hair was silvery gray, and he had green-blue eyes with pale skin to adorn those features. Yes, he was handsome. But not that handsome. "Y-y-you're apprentice went missing!"

"I already know that boy!"

"T-There's more, she hurt mama and big brother!" he cried.

Yolanda and Yubaba looked at him shock.

"N-no! That cannot happen!" The posh old lady screamed, running gracefully to the mansion. "I cannot believe it! My precious daughter and grandson!" she cried hysterically.

_Serves her right and that doll of a daughter and that fat boy. _The Witch sneered as the boy chased after his other Oma. This only made Yubaba want that girl her apprentice even more. Nothing seemed better than wounding two high status people.

The 12 year old girl's name is, "Ayame." The Witch uttered quietly, knowing that she escaped but wounded as well. "Only you can be my apprentice. No one else." Yubaba smirked knowingly. That girl had shown the love of magic and began trying to copy the old witch. But the witch knew that she won't be able to copy it without guidance.

_I shall pretend to be a Magician. But then... I'll let her out to live her life alone. Then we'll see if she can carry the burden..._

Yubaba grinned maliciously. "Ayame, what a beautiful name. Fit for an apprentice of mine."

_"Yubaba, you really are losing it!" _A spirit whispered and giggled.

"SHUSH YOU!" The old lady bellowed.

* * *

**Okay, okay. I know I wasn't supposed to upload this until August or whatever. But it occurred to me that the beginning is important and "proof". Because in "You Can't Run Away From Yourself" there's going to be a lot of flashbacks to back things up. And I want to fix my old story. :(**

**But the good thing is! How Ayame and Zoro and everyone met and became friends and hinted romance!**

**Now, I'm just rambling here. But at least, for those who happened to cross by my other story and wondered, "Why the Hell is it like this?!" Well. I thought that a jump skip thing would be much more better. Because if I didn't, you'd all be like "This is a STORY! NOT a LOVE story!"**

**The romance in my quizilla story is very... meh.**

**And I didn't know I made my character into a Mary-Sue. So I fixed her up. Honestly, I didn't KNOW what the hey-hey I was doing. But at least I fixed my OC.**

**This will start FROM THE WAY BEGINNING!**

**And please don't refer to my Quizilla version. It's horrible. It will make you cringe and give you a bad day.**

**The rules aren't mine. I found it from God knows where. BUT WHOEVER IT BELONGS TO, ALL RIGHTS GO TO THAT PERSON NOT ME! NO AND NEVER! I wanted to put their name, but I lost the website when my damn laptop shut down on me for freaking updates. **

**_Stay Fabulous!_**

**_~ Review ~ Criticize/Rant ~ PM~_**


	2. You're a magician!

I just thought that maybe I should put up the beginning of the Straw Hats adventures and how Ayame comes in - Not to forget about how Zoro's and Ayame's relationship _flourished_.

Maybe it will help some people to understand my sudden leap to the middle.

And please don't look up my old stories. Horrible, just horrible. (**If you do, you'll get pregnant and have a demon spawn**) Just don't go. Please.

But I'm keeping it up because I must be proud of them, which is my first version of my stories. I'm glad that there are about a dozen people who likes my story.

In this story, you'll witness how Ayame is a bit reluctant of joining the crew and how she doesn't really trust the Straw Hats but only Usopp. It's a re-vamp version (Wow, I never thought of using that word)!

Enjoy~

* * *

**East Blue. Evening.**

_2 days after Hawkeye's encounter and the Baratie..._

The Straw Hat crew of only 5, wandered around the coast as they were heading to Logue Town - which was just a couple days from where they are. But something caught Nami's eye in the ocean of East Blue. A lump sprawled on a wreck dingy - it was about to sink any minute!

"What the-...?" She looked closer, squinting. Nami saw a person who look like he needed help. Badly. "Luffy!" The Navigator called, staring at the half-dead person and he immediately ran up to her, followed by the others.

"What's wrong Nami, my love?! Is there something wrong?!" Sanji started and the young girl began to look nervous and worried. "Is there something bothering you - the heat, the sun, the clouds, the... the... ocean?!" He questioned at the only female companion. Nami was the another reason why he joined. He didn't want her to starve on a ship with 3 potentially threats; Luffy, Usopp and Zoro.

"Yeah, what's with the commotion?" Zoro questioned and bores his eyes at hers.

"So... what is it?" Luffy questioned when the Navigator didn't say a word. The mysterious man's condition became clearer to the Navigator as it wasn't the setting sun that gave the man a red colour. It was blood.

She hesitantly pointed at the wandering small boat with the bloody man in it. He was still breathing, but it was slow and rasp. "He's still alive!" She shouted, "He needs help!" Nobody did anything. "Quickly!" She yelled to Luffy and he immediately used his Gum-Gum power, fearing the Navigator's wrath. Although, Nami couldn't help but thought the unknown man seemed utterly handsome. His hair was perfect to the Navigator. Even with all that blood.

Though he had a mask covering his face, she knew he was handsome. She just knew.

It's a girl's intuition.

...

Zoro carried the boy and he immediately put him onto a soft surface of blankets and a pillow. He was placed on the bench in the kitchen. Nami could finally get a better look of this unknown man. "Wow," was all she said looking at the weapons he had. Too bad he had a mask to cover his face, and his hair didn't look that handsome at all. It looked good from a distance and in the sunset, but not up close. The Navigator mentally sighed, it was unkempt and tangled. This meant he wasn't as handsome as Nami thought.

Sanji was in the background with teary eyes that held a bit of jealousy. He didn't want the Navigator to check out some stranger in front of him - it hurt his ego. "Nami... I thought you loved me..!" His bottom lip quivered, causing the First Mate to snort.

The Swordsman shook his head. But he cast a chilling glare at the stranger, he didn't trust that appendage on the bench one bit. For starters, the sea is dangerous place for a dingy itself, so there's got to be a ship who cast this person and his dingy out. It didn't make any sense to the Swordsman. But he did thought of the worst case scenario; it was probably a pirate attack. Or a mutiny of some sort. He tossed that thought aside, and kept a strong dislike towards the stranger. He felt uneasy about the stranger. He was lighter than a normal 5'4'' male.

_I better prepare... this man could be a threat. _He leaned against the wall, arms crossed in a defensive way.

Nami turned to Sanji confused. "What?" She questioned the Cook's look. "Oh... Uh, n-no! It's not what it looks like! I was just looking at the guy's weapons!" She said quickly and turned to look at it again. "They look... well, strange. I think it's meant to be delivered... since it looks custom-made." She said quietly and they came up looking at the weapons.

The Cook came up to look at the odd-looking small weapons; knives and daggers. With a composed attitude, "Yeah, you're right. They are weird. Nothing like I have seen before." He said and took out one of his dagger that interested him. "Hey. It's a good-looking dagger." He examined. It was purely white like snow even the handle was silver with a tint of gold. "They look familiar... Maybe from Syrup village."

"Oh? And how do you know that?" The First Mate questioned.

"In the Baratie, that Geezer," he referred to his previous master, "usually orders new kitchen knives from... I think his name was Rick or Ricky. He's the best of the best blacksmith in the East Blue. I heard he's taking two apprentices; his son and a girl whose just looking for a job. Maybe this guy is the son." The Cook assumed.

"Anyways... We should take those weapons out," Nami instructed to the two males beside her.

Protectively, Zoro came up and examined the guy once more. There's just something he can't pin point about the boy. "You sure about letting this guy to stay? What happens if he brainwash our minds that he's the good guy when he's actually not? You can't just let him in here, and take care of him because of his damn injuries." He continued, "And-"

Nami cut him off. "Oh, shut up Zoro. This guy is obviously hurtd and besides, we have you, Sanji and Luffy to take care of him if he tries to kill us. One against all of us," Nami shot back leaving Zoro to mumble and walk away.

"Suit yourself."

"Okay, Sanji. Help me get his weapons out, and I'll check his wounds... which are," she paused and look at the wound in his stomach, "strangely healing... must be an antidote he put on before he fell unconscious. Well, the least I could do is patch it up." She said and took out his weapons and placed them in the bucket.

...

**20 minutes later...**

"Ugh! Finally!" Nami sat on the dinning table's bench and Sanji looked exhausted as well. Leaning too much was painful.

"Just how many weapons does this guy has?" He questioned with a little irritation in his voice. Zoro, Luffy and Usopp came up. "And who is he delivering it to?! No wonder he's got a wound in his stomach!"

"What's up with you guys?" The Sniper questioned with a confused look and Nami pointed to the bucket of weapons. The 3 guys' eyes popped out of their sockets and their mouths were wide open.

"What the hell?! That much weapons on him?!" Zoro questioned and the Navigator shook her head. "That's not all?!" She shook her head again and drank her water. "This delivery boy has one heck of a client."

"We only took out the ones we could see and on the front. I only wonder why he has a lot of weapons." Nami told them and panted a bit. "Is this a job for the blacksmith's? Harsh!"

The Swordsman lifted on of the weapons and his eyes widened, they were as light as a feather. _No wonder it felt like nothing when I carried that guy. These weapons are light and by the looks of it... It looks like weapons only an assassin or a revolutionary army would have. Strange. Such sly weapons... _He thought as he placed them back in the bucket. _That Rick or Ricky guy really is talented. I wonder why I didn't see a blacksmith in Syrup village..._

"That's so... COOL!" Luffy burst out with those sparkly eyes, making his crew sweat drop with priceless expressions. "I'm going to let him to be apart of this crew! I wonder how he fights in battle! Or better, he could be one of those crew members we need!" the Captain smiled with excitement. Only to be hit on the head by Nami.

"YOU IDIOT! IT'S OBVIOUS HE CAN'T BE ONE OF THEM! HE COULD BE A BLACKSMITH!" the Navigator screamed at him, but it wasn't enough to wake up the mysterious man. She punched his head once more.

"Oi, Nami! That hurts!"

"Wow." Usopp started making his nakama look at him. "I can't believe that person could still sleep after that outburst." The Sniper found something familiar about the stranger but kept his wits. He didn't want to assume things. The Navigator flushed, and thought if she woke him up, he'll think of her as a freak or a weird woman who's on her monthly gift.

"Well, let's just go to bed. It's late already." Sanji started and everyone agreed. He stayed in last to put up a trap, in case of Luffy stealing food at night. He gave the mysterious boy one hard glare as if he was inspecting him to wake up after they left. But he didn't. "I guess I don't have to worry about him taking our food." He said to himself and walked out.

* * *

**Mysterious Man's POV**

I groaned slightly, eyes squinting at the sudden light. I saw movements in the corner of my eyes. I slowly sat up with one hand supported my body weight and the other caressed my aching head. My stomach pained me. I didn't care about anyone but myself right now.

That was the worst encounter at sea yet. But I knew that woman, she stabbed me from out of nowhere one foggy day. I know what I saw, she was once a great ally. Her features had change to that of a siren; voluptuous and eery. Red hair, green eyes, tan skin and a dark with a twisted personality. Nearly similar to a psychopath.

A soft gesture awoken my non-nostalgic thoughts.

Some unfamiliar girl waved at me. She smiled softly, making me narrow my eyes to see who it was through my blurry vision. "Morning." She welcomed and the others looked at her then to me.

"Where..." I stopped. _Who is she?_ I thought and changed my starting line. I stared questioningly at them, demanding where I was. I deepened my voice, hopefully I can disguise myself. "Who are you?" _Are they associated with that woman? If they are, I better leave quickly. I'm not fit enough to fight. Maybe in a week or 2, but now is a very fragile time for me._

"I'm Nami," She said and was about to say more only to be cut off by a man with a long coat stood up. But I could visibly see a long, yet familiar looking nose. _Who is this show-off?_

"Well, I'm glad you asked." He started with a visible sly smirk on, making me and his crew look at him weirdly. He stood in a 'heroic' pose. I sweat drop with narrow eyes along with his crew but one of them looked at him with amusement while waiting for food. He had a straw hat and a scar on his cheek. "I am the bravest of all the brave. I am the great Captain of these lands and ship. The-"

The straw hat tried to cut him off. But the "mysterious-man-with-the-long-nose" just ignored him, making the straw hat sat back down and crossed with arms together, pouting like a child.

"-daredevil of seas!" He laughed.

This didn't amused me one bit. My wound on my stomach hurt like Hell, and I'm on a boat, full of potential enemies.

The boy with the cloak and long nose tore off his cloak in a blink of an eye. As the cloak was discarded, it landed on the man with green hair and tan skin. He sat on the floor with his swords in front of him. It was a defense body language. The green man tore off the cloak angrily.

_Hold on! I know him! He's -_

"Usopp!" he shouted proudly.

It was impossible show no emotions because of my mask. But inside I was bursting and fanning myself comically. Shock, that he left Syrup Village. Happy, that I had found him. And angry, that he did not wrote any letters to me about joining a crew. A pirate's crew by the looks of it. Because when I came back to Syrup Village - a week and a half ago - his little friends had told me that Usopp left to the sea. After getting me 3rd star in Blacksmithing in Logues Town. I admit that I had been away for... let's say, 3 months. But still, I wrote something to him. Instead of finding him, I continued to work. I needed money to support myself.

"Feast your eyes on -" He made his way to get down the table, but instead, he slipped and crashed his head on the floor. He quickly sat up, cross-legged, holding on his head. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" He chanted.

I mentally sighed, closing my eyes and pinching my nose bridge.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR STANDING ON THE TABLE, IDIOT!" a blonde yelled with a curly eyebrow. I had never seen such thing. I wanted to poke it - to check if it was real - with a chopstick. Who knows, it could be alive. Curling itself like that and the next day, it's normal. Tame, in other words.

"Where are we?" I questioned boldly. Which doesn't happen all the time. But I was tense and protective of my well-being.

"Oh, c'mon! Aren't you at least concerned about **my** well-being?!" The Sniper shouted. The crew was confused.

I had a mask to masquerade my feelings. But my eyes were recognizable to Usopp. It was a pretty turquoise colour with dark rims. It resembled the night of the glowing ocean consisting of glowing plankton and jellyfish in it. It had a special name, _bioluminescence_. "Oh. Usopp. It's been awhile... How's that appendage of yours?" It sounded dull and plain to the long nose - especially in the fake boy voice.

"You -" the long nose stopped himself and sighed. "Could you **please** be more sympathetic?"

"How's your head?"

He dead panned and his left eye twitched. "Stubborn as always..."

"Likewise, friend. Likewise."

"EH?! YOU KNOW EACH OTHER?!" The Crew yelled.

"Hm?" Usopp turned to the other's incredulous looks. "Yeah, she's -"

"YOU'RE A GIRL TOO!?"

The Sniper snickered. "Yeah! She was just wearing a wig." He took it off the black wig, making my short pale pink hair fall just around my shoulders. "It's not normal to see a female blacksmith, ya know?"

"A blacksmith?" the Straw Hat boy questioned, a bit disappointed.

"I'm an **apprentice**." But they ignored her, much to her dismay.

Luffy continued, "That's not what I wanted... Can you fight?" he inquired.

I gave a small shrug. "When the occasion calls for it..." I answered quietly. _Well... Not really. Unless bluffing and fighting for a few minutes and running away is fighting... _

"AH~!" A yell shocked everyone, the blonde kneel in front of me, grabbing my hand and caressing it. "Mademoiselle ~! I knew it, from that voice I knew you were a girl! You can't fool ol' me my dear! Aa~ I am Sanji, ma cheri~!"

_Wait a minute... Aren't these people from the Baratie incident a few days ago? Man... just who are these **gangsters** and why are they with Usopp?_ I thought suspiciously, eyeing them as I took my hand away from Sanji. I looked over to the bucket full of small weapons, meant to be shipped to Logues Town.

"Alright! You can join my crew! What is a 'Blacksmith' anyway?" The Straw Hat questioned me.

"I don't want to join. I've got better things to do."

The long nose frowned. "But Ayame this is a great way to escape!"

_Oh, no. Don't you dare say anything about me Usopp! I'll kill you -_

"Luffy! Not only she's a blacksmith, but she's a _magician_ as well!" Usopp shouted, bribing the Captain.

My face dropped.

"REALLY!?" The Captain of the ship shouted in amazement. "Show me! Show me! Show me! **SHOW ME**! "

"NO!"

"WHY NOT?!" he shouted like an angry child. But he wasn't the crying type, oh no, he was the **smashing** type.

"Well... Maybe she's a scam?" The green man suggested and yawned. I growled.

"Zoro! Why'd you say that -" Usopp panicked.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" I boomed, marching towards him, ignoring my pain and I bonk his head.

"OI! What's with you woman!" A fresh steaming bump was added in that green head of his.

"You want to see it?! Then I'll show you, you jerk!"

* * *

**3rd Person's POV**

She did her vanishing techniques with her handkerchief. It was only teleporting a small item to another hanging handkerchief that Usopp was holding.

The Magician told the long nose to wave of that small blanket that he held, there was a dove.

"Awesome!" Luffy yelled amazed as did the others. How could a living bird appear from a blanket? And the woman came unprepared. It really felt like magic.

Ayame showed everyone the bird, silently. It was most definitely real.

Usopp tried to find some sort of cheat under her sleeves. "Nothing..! How?!" He questioned, incredulously. "The bird is real as well!"

The Magician grabbed the bird in both of her hands, "I've got another trick." She said, tending to rip the bird apart!

"WHAT?!" The Captain shouted but stopped in awe as she made a replica of the dove in a flash. "WOO!" He cheered, clapping the loudest, and laughed. "I thought for a second you're going to kill it!"

_Silly boy. _Ayame put the two gorgeous doves on her shoulders and bowed. The birds as well bowed their heads like performers.

"That gave me a scare..." Nami said as the clapping died down. "But you're good. Really good."

"WOW~!" The Cook danced around, then clapped enthusiastically. "What a sight! Lovely, Ayame ma cheri~!"

"Hmph. I still think it's a fraud..." The Swordsman muttered lowly.

The Magician frowned. _Whatever helps you sleep at night you Cactus. _"Well. I guess I'll leave now. I've over stayed my welcome." She said and gathered the deliveries.

Sanji, Luffy and Usopp frowned, "What why?!" They chorused.

"Yeah, you have no boat. What are you going to do?" the Navigator questioned, "You didn't over stayed your welcome - It's just... Zoro's just like that! He's one piece of work! Besides, I need a girl around to help me not going crazy!" she said.

"WHAT'D YOU CALLED ME?!" Zoro shouted at Nami and she just gave him a hard glare.

"You heard me!" She said with a saucy attitude and the Navigator took Ayame's arm, dragging her to the deck. Once they went out, the doves flew away.

"Wow, she's so gorgeous when she's aggressive~" Sanji sighed and smiled at the Navigator's form.

* * *

Hmm... A bit too much for the first chapter... But I guess this would do. :)

And there won't be that much of First Person POV. I just thought it's much more fitting to that certain part.

And WOW! Thank you **hesmus, Nebelkatz, and nikkichu112 **for favoriting/following! I didn't expect anything until the first chapter! Thank you!

_**Stay Fabulous, savvy~?**_

_**~ Review ~ Rage ~ PM ~ Favorite ~ Follow ~**_


	3. Marine Captain Jagger

**"When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane and the wrong way."**

**~ Dorky Quotes ~**

* * *

_**The next day...**_

"So... are you going to join my crew?"

"Yeah, I don't think so. Please stop bothering-"

"YEAH!" He screamed happily making everyone look at him with curiosity at the dining table and sweat drops.

"Uh... Luffy? Sorry to break it to ya but, um, she said _I don't think so_, you know... it means _no_." Usopp told him. _Really? Is this captain serious?_ Ayame thought narrowing her eyes at him with one eye twitching slightly.

"But she said _yeah_ in the beginning..." Luffy retorted and huffed at his friend.

The masked girl looked at him oddly and went to the corner of the room. She hides her face, taking off the mask as she eats, facing away from them. She felt them stare at her oddly. "It's... er... R... Religion." She answered. It wasn't a lie nor was it the truth. "Religion," she verified with a slight nod.

Usopp interrupted, whispering to them. "She's kind of a dork... Don't mock her."

"I heard that!"

Nami decided to ask something about the new girl. "So, Ayame... Why _did _you choose to work as a blacksmith? Isn't that for men?" she questions as she sip her drink. "Wasn't there something else than that type of work?"

Ayame finished her food, she wipes her mouth with a napkin and pulled up her mask. "There was. But it wasn't something I'm good at." _Cooking, being a cashier... yeah. Not my forte. _

"Such as?" Sanji asks with a slight interest.

"Fishing was one of them." she answered as she put her dish in the sink. She looked around, eyeing everyone in the dining room. "Where are you heading after Logue Town?"

Zoro glared at her, "It's none of your business."

"We're heading to the Grand Line." Luffy answered with a grin, ignoring Zoro's protest.

"DON'T TELL HER!" the Swordsman shouted comically and sat down with a frown.

Nami rolled her eyes at Zoro. "Oh, c'mon. She's a friend of Usopp - you should learn to kind once in a while!" she said and heeled his foot, hard.

"Gah! That hurt, woman!" he sneered.

...

The Swordsman glared at the Blacksmith. He didn't trust her at all. There was a lot of secrecy about this specimen. She doesn't show her face, reluctant to tell some things about herself, and her aura... There was something about her that screams out _Bad luck_ and _Danger_. Now, he doesn't know how Usopp became friends with this person. But he admits, this girl might be more than what meets the eye. And he intends to find out, one way or another.

"So, tell me, how did you guys became friends?" Sanji question, "I find it hard to believe that Usopp can make any friends that are girls."

"HEY!" Usopp slapped his arm. "Kaya counts too, ya know! Besides, I have a million other friends -"

Nami rolled her eyes at her nakama. "Imaginary friends don't count, Usopp." She smiles as the long nose sputtered.

"Hm... Let's see." Ayame pondered, "I was in a shipwreck. Washed up on shore. Usopp found me and took me in. The end." She gave them a cheese-y thumbs up moment.

Most of them sweat drop. "That... was very vague." Usopp muttered and scratch the back of his head.

"I don't want to waste time talking about the past." she reasoned with what seems like a smile, considering her eyes.

Luffy grinned, "It makes total sense!" His crew sweat drop again. "Then you became a blacksmith, right?" he asks and Ayame nods.

"**Apprentice**..." she trailed, "Not really a blacksmith. My colleague is already in Logue Town - he has most of the deliveries. He's probably waiting for me."

"Please tell me that he isn't your boyfriend!" Sanji rushed to her side. "I can be yours!"

Ayame's eye twitched. "No... that won't be necessary..." she said as Nami punched the blonde.

"Stop pestering our guest!"

The Swordsman scoffed. "Don't you mean_ invader_...?" Zoro whispered to himself.

"And you! I've had enough of your complaining!" Nami shouted and pointed at him. "She's a guest and a friend of Usopp's! Get it in your head!" She turned to Ayame and gave her an apologizing smile. "Boys." she concluded. "Sorry for that idiot's trust issues and Sanji's horrible flirting abilities-"

"HEY PIRATES!" Shouted an intruder outside the ship. "DON'T WORRY, I'M NOT HERE TO ARREST NOVICES! I'M HERE FOR A GIRL NAMED AYAME! IF YOU HAVE HER, BRING HER OUT! IF NOT, I WILL ARREST YOU!" A marine that made no sense.

Zoro immediately sprout out into action, drawing his sword at the Apprentice's neck causing her to quickly draw her hands up in fear. It happened so fast. _He's a demon! _She thought. "I knew it. You can't be trusted." he growled and looked out the window, seeing a man in his 20's; black hair, dark eyes, high cheek bones and tan skin. He wears a white martial art garb instead of the uniform. That man is a Marine Captain of branch 111. "Who is that marine?" he questioned, glaring intensively at the Magician.

"Hold it!" Usopp went by Ayame's side. "It isn't what it looks like!"

The Swordsman glares at their _guest_ as she stared back at him, like she was daring him to do the evitable, after the Sniper shield himself in front of her. "Oh? Enlighten me. She's being haunted down by a Marine."

"Just hold on a sec!" Sanji says, "This could be another Ayame. Right?" He turned to the girl.

"No. I am what he's looking for." She answered carefully.

Nami turned to her, "But why?" she questioned, shock.

"Relax, I'm not the enemy. Usopp, maybe you can answer them. They may not believe me if I say so." Ayame said and everyone turned to him.

"That man..." the long nose trailed, "is Ayame's **stalker**!" he shouted dramatically as his friends sweat drop and anime fall, but for Luffy.

The Captain laughed, "Seriously?! Ahahaha! That's funny!" he continued laughing as Zoro hesitantly put back his sword, taken back. "Since when?!"

"I..." she sighed, "unintentially saved him from drowning. He's a devil fruit user... But I didn't know he was a Marine. For some reason... he's been acting like that." Ayame walked out of the room, standing by the door way. "Let me deal with this, to save you the trouble." she said in a bored way. She was always bored. Nothing to do, but be a damn Apprentice. _I should've stayed at home... This life really is boring. I should've listened. But... I don't want to be that Witch's apprentice._

"OH~! AYAME, MY SOULMATE!-"

The Apprentice face palmed and pinched her nose bridge. "How humiliating..." she muttered, humiliated, with a disapproving look on her face as Usopp's crew mates snickered except for Sanji, who growled viciously and Zoro.

"-Where have you been, my love?! I heard that you were in a shipwreck with a lot of passengers - And I heard that you didn't make it! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!" He rambles on and waved his arms around childishly, manly tears sliding down his face.

"Yes, Jagger. I'm all right." She said and crossed her arms as his ship went beside the Straw Hat's ship.

* * *

**The Marines.**

"I've never seen the Marine Captain like this, have you?" one of Jagger's soldiers whispers.

The other shook his head, watching their Captain cry in happiness. "Never. That woman has him wrapped around her finger - I mean, look at him!" he says.

"I am! It's kind of weird!"

The Lieutenant came by and grinned. He was the all time Casanova of all the Marines in Branch 111; Lt. Stanton Woodman. "Now, now boys. The Captain is merely in love." he says, walking over to _bird watch_. There is two lovely _birds_, and he tends to eye them as much as he wants. They won't know anyways.

The soldiers heard their Lt. giggle in a very creepy manner.

"Scary." They chorused, holding each other.

"I'm lucky I'm a man." One squeaked.

Jagger looked at the other pirates. "AND YOU MEN! If you so much dare touch my woman - I swear, I will kill you - HURT you even!"

"You got it all wrong!" Ayame told him, trying to get him to calm down. For her, he would do anything. The woman who had saved him without question. "They saved me from the wreck! And the nurtured me back to approriate health condition!"

The Marine Captain sighed. "Oh, Thank God!" he yelled and looked at them one last time. "Thanks."

"What kind of thank you was that?" his soldier questioned to himself.

"A cold one?" the other suggested.

"Please let me allow you to come aboard, my dear! I have prepared your room!" he instantly grabbed the rope ladder and set it up. "Come," he beckoned her.

* * *

**Straw Hat Ship.**

"I guess, I'll take my leave." Ayame said and went to climb the ladder.

"WHAT?! With that creeper?!" Usopp questioned and ran to her side. "We haven't seen each other in over what, 3 or 4 months!?"

"Yeah, and I disapprove of you being around those men! Who'll feed you amazing first class food, but me?!" Sanji hugged her leg, causing Jagger to shout at the blonde.

"DON'T TOUCH HER, _CURLY_ BROWS!"

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, **THICK** BROWS!" Sanji yelled comically at the _thick_ brow man.

Nami came by and frowned. "Yeah, and I don't trust that pervy looking man beside the Captain." she said, looking at the Lieutenant. "Stay with us."

"Ayame!" Luffy said, "Join my crew! I want a Magician in my crew!" he stomped his foot like a child.

"I can't. Sorry." The Apprentice said. "It appears I'm not really welcoming to your Swordsman. But... it was great meeting you!" She climbed up the ropes. "And take care of Usopp for me." she says, making it to the top with the unnecessary help from Jagger.

"I've missed you!" he kneels down and hugs her waist.

"Jagger. I have a request."

"Anything, my soulmate!"

"Do you have anything that I could repay them with?" she questions as Usopp watched, teary-eyed.

Jagger nodded. "Of course! I have 10,000 Beri! I'll give them that right now!" he turned to his Lt. with a stern look. "Get the money! I want to repay them!"

"Yes sir!" Before he left, Lt. Stanton eyed Ayame's body. "Looking fine as usual."

The Marine Captain sneered at the back of his Lieutenant's head. "That casanova... looking at my woman like that..."

He came back with a bag of cash, handing it to Ayame. "Here you go."

"Thanks..." she mumbled and went to the side. "Hey Usopp!" the Blacksmith called, holding the cash. "I'd like to thank you and your friends for the hospitality. You've done a lot. Thank you." she says, handing it to Usopp. "Maybe I'll see you at Logue Town. 'Til then."

The vessel had sailed away causing Luffy to whimper of his loss. "I still want a Magician in my crew..." he mumbled.

"I don't approve of her being in our crew." Zoro mumbled as he sat on the ground. "I'm going to take a nap - don't bother me." he crosses his arms behind his head and shuts his eyes. _Something's just not right about that fraud of a magician. _

...

Jagger held the girl's hand and leads her to a small room with an attempt work of making it home-y. The colours clashed and it seemed like everything was just thrown there. "It's lovely, thank you." She says dully and sighed, shutting the door in front of his face. Ayame collapsed on the floor, holding her aching wound on her stomach. She had pretended to be okay in front of everyone.

The girl found herself homesick but at the same time, she felt sick of thinking about returning back home. There was simply nothing to do there. It was always lonely and there's always those damn rules.

As a child born in October, she is rebellious and independent.

Ayame got out her nearly full journal and a pen. She wrote about her day and how it went.

_Dear Brother...  
_

_I'm writing in my journal again. Why? Because I wrote you so much in letters but you don't write back. So I decided to write it here, and when I find you, I can give this to you personally. Anyways...  
_

_I've met Usopp and... his friends. I thought he turned into some kind of gangster... But it turns out, he was hanging out with interesting people. Except for one of them. His name is Roronoa Zoro, the 'Pirate Hunter'. He doesn't like me too much. I think he finds me too suspicious. I don't know why though, I tried to be nice. But I guess it's just me. It's like he knew I wasn't just a Magician. It's odd and daunting to have found someone who can look though another's facade. For the others..._

_The Straw Hats gave me hospitality. It was unnecessary, but they did it anyways._

_How can such people exist?  
_

* * *

**Logue Town.**

The Straw Hat's arrived right after seeing the familiar vessel of Marine branch 111 leave from a good distance. They saw a familiar pink head as well, she was talking to another man who looked disappointed. Probably her colleague; Ricky's son.

"Hey, isn't that..." Nami trailed as Luffy immediately came right beside her.

"OI! AYAME!" he yelled, waving his arm frantically, trying to grab the girl's attention. "OI!" But her colleague dragged her away, apparently she didn't hear the Captain's yell. "Dammit, she didn't hear me!" he said and frowned.

"Don't worry, we'll dock soon enough." Nami smiled.

"I want her to join my crew so badly though!" he complained.

"Me too, Nami~!" Sanji cried.

"And she's a magician - they're hard to find you know?! Nami, hurry it up! I WANNA DOCK NOW-"

She punched her Captain. "JUST WAIT!"

...

"AYAME!" Luffy screamed once he sets foot on land, causing a lot of people to flinch and back away. "JOIN MY CREW! I WANT A MAGICIAN IN MY CREW!"

"Ayame?" Citizens questioned.

"Does he mean that weird girl from Syrup Village?" they whispered among themselves.

"OI, AYAME! WHERE ARE YOU!?" he yells and runs off leaving a devasted crew as citizens stared at them.

"How embarrassing." Nami mumbled right after she gave everyone their allowance and to Zoro (with interest) so he can buy some swords. "Okay. After we are one here, we meet at exactly this location. Got that?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sanji and Usopp said and all three walked their different paths.

* * *

**Earlier in Logue Town.**

Once Ayame arrived in Logue Town, she noted that this place was where the famous Gol D. Roger was born and executed. _Ironic_, she thought and got down the Marine vessel, unintentailly ignoring Jagger as she waved him goodbye. She was clearly not interested. Feeling depress and bored was the few things Ayame felt. But she was very aware of this place since Marines tend to visit a lot, especially Smoker. Since this is usually his _turf_.

_I wonder where Junior is? _She looked around for Ricky's son._  
_

"Oi, Ayame!" she heard a gruff voice.

She didn't need to turn around. "Well, if it isn't Jr." she says with mockery. "Miss me?"

He scoffed. Ricky Jr. was the spitting image of his father; brunet, dark eyed and tan - not to forget the attrative muscles from smithing. "You wish, lil' lady."

"Oi, Ayame!" they heard someone yell.

"Did you hear something?" she questioned her colleague.

He shrugs. "Whatever, let's just deliver these weapons. We're a bit behind." Jr. drags her to a dark place. "Our client has been waiting for an hour. Why are you always late?!"

"Please! A magician is never late Mister Ricky Jr - nor is she early. She comes precisely when she means to!" She read off from her hand. Because she had known this might have happened and wrote it in her palm.

He sighed, "Dork."

"Am not!"

"Says the girl who likes to quote things but fails miserably."

"Says the guy who likes to point things out!"

"Your reason is weak."

"Shut up before I mess you up!"

...

Ayame looked at the sword shop then to her paper. _Well, this is the place he written._ she thought with a sweat drop. The store didn't look much from the outside and when Ayame was about to go in, she saw Zoro and some girl with blue hair. The Magician didn't showed that much care as she cocked her eyebrow slightly, _probably a friend... Wait a second... Isn't she the Lieutenant of Smoker's? Huh... How strange.  
_

"Hello, what can I do for you?" He asks or more like muttered.

_Rough day?_ Ayame thought with her eyes searching his. "Well, I have your deliveries." His eyes nearly popped out as the delivery girl pull out the weapons, placing them carefully on the counter. "Also some junk that my previous client gave to me." she says and he nods.

"Sorry," he gruffly said. "I forgot that Ricky's apprentices' was comin'. Though... I thought he trains boys." The man said.

Ayame nods. "He does... er... I just wanted to help out his son; Ricky Jr." she lied, scratching the back of her hand. Mainly because she doesn't want Ricky to be looked down on that he trains girls as well.

"Ah, his lady friend?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

The Magician smiled awkwardly. "Sure..." she trailed, not really understanding what he meant by that action.

He brought out 5,000 Beri in a bag and gave it to her. "Give it to your boy, girlie." He winks at her and Ayame nods slowly. She hooks the string to her belt. The Apprentice wore only a well-fitted t-shirt, brown skinny jeans and black shoes.

She turned around to see Zoro and Tashigi looking at her. Her eyebrow slowly lifted, "Er... Problem?" she questions the two. The Swordsman looked away, hoping that Ayame will go away. Oh, but she didn't. _I guess I'll mess with him a bit. Mwuhahahahaha!_ "Wait... I know you." She suddenly said.

...

Zoro froze. _She better not say a thing... But that threatening look she has on that masked face. _He thought as Tashigi looked taken back.

"Who me?" the indigo haired girl questions with glassy eyes.

Ayame turned to the Swordsman, toyingly. Zoro thought she was asking him. "Yes." she answers as the moss head sighed. "You must be Lt. Tashigi. It's an honor to meet you in person."

She blushes. "Why... Thank you!" Tashigi grins, "Not everyone appreciates me!"

"Oh, I can't see why." Ayame used her - let's just say, her _sweet_ talk. "You are a _Marine_. You protect citizens from bad guys; thugs, gangsters, rioters, revolutionists and _pirates_." she emphasized, making sure Zoro heard. Ayame seriously thought he was an idiot to be near a Marine. Especially a Lieutenant.

"Wow, you appreciate me?"

"Yes." Ayame nods, "But I can't see you hanging around with this guy. I mean, you're a Marine Lieutenant, and he's a pi-"

Zoro quickly covers the girl's mouth and carried her. "Excuse us one moment. She's my cousin - She doesn't know what she's saying! Uh, she also has mental disabilities in her head." he told her and carried Ayame outside the store. "What the Hell are you doing?! Are you trying to get me arrested?!" he whispers harshly.

"Mmm mm MM!" she says.

"What?!"

She removes his hand off her face. "I said 'remove your hands'!" she whispered. "You're the idiot here! That's a Marine!" Ayame pointed at Tashigi, who stared at them oddly. "What the Hell are YOU doing?!"

"Uh... She said that... she wants an autograph after this." Zoro said, making a excuse for Ayame's pointing. He turned to Ayame. "I know that!" he whispers.

"Then that's your fault! I wasted my time for nothing then!" she said and walked away, not to forget to stomp on his foot.

"GAH!" he yelped, surprised.

"I thought you wanted my autograph!" Tashigi yelled after the Apprentice.

* * *

**Hotel.**

"Hey Jr.!" Ayame yelled, still a bit ticked off as she enters the hotel room. "I got your money." she went to untie the strings.

"Keep it." he said, looking away. "And grabbed that bag too." Ricky Jr. pointed at the medium sized bag.

Not understanding the sudden coldnss, she went to the bag. "What's this about?" she questions, unsurely and quietly. "Is there something wrong?" she opened the sack and peered in - then she quickly shut it. "What's the meaning of this?!" she questions him, angrily.

Ricky grabbed a cigar and lit it up.

"And I thought you gave up smoking!" She accused, "You usually smoke when..." then it hit her. "Did I... Is there something..." she didn't know what to ask.

"Ayame." he says, gravely.

"You're kicking me out."

* * *

Hm. Odd ending.

**_Stay Fabulous!  
_**

**_~ Review ~ Criticize/Rant ~ PM~ _**


	4. Kicked out

**"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."**

**~ Dorky Quotes ~**

* * *

"You're kicking me out." She assumed, trying to keep her eyes from tearing up. But her eyes watered as her eyebrows furrowed. In truth, hiding her feelings was too hard for her. So with the mask on her face, she thought she could hide everything she felt. Without it, how else will she hide? How else will she masque her feelings and keep them in place?

Emotions were nothing but a burden.

"It's not what it seems." Jr. said quickly.

"Then what?!" she shouted, feeling rejected, and being kicked out was the most painful thing in the world. It purely suggested that someone wasn't good enough. "I don't understand! _You_ don't understand! If you kick me out, I have nowhere else to go to! Let alone this amount of money! You know how much I spend on things I don't need - especially when it comes with food!"

"Please let me explain." He gets up and grips on her small shoulders as she looks away from his face. "I will be vague and frank." Ayame huff, muttering "Great". "It's just... you aren't strong enough. You get lost easily. You're usually late. You don't always listen. Like you said, you spend a lot on useless things. And... you aren't dedicated."

"Dedicated? Dedicated?!" she questioned, her temper flaring. "I try-"

"But you want something more, don't you?" His question struck her as he went to sit back down. She watched him took a deep drag out of his cigar and exhaled it away from her face. "I can see it in your eyes. Being a blacksmith just isn't for you. I wish you have the passion for smithing, but let me be honest-"

"No," she said sarcastically, "please lie to me!" Ayame tied her hair up to a messy bun.

"As I was saying," he narrowed his eyes at her. "You want something. Something other than smithing. Tell me, do I speak the truth?"

Ayame looked away once again. She stopped lying a long time ago, but it comes quietly and unnoticeable sometimes. It was temptation for her. "I..." she sighed, "You... you speak the truth..." She whispered. "I want something. But I don't know what."

He grinned, but it was forced. "I know that feeling. It's a feeling where you _feel_ you have everything but you want to know if you truly have everything you need. Then you find something that someone else has what you don't have. Then you yearn for it." Ricky Jr. went on about it. "It's the most horrifying feeling ever. Because sometimes, not everyone can have it. There's always those damn obsicles - and sometimes some people have the toughest ones. Then they give up."

"Did you give up?"

"Yes." He answered vaguely. "I wanted to be a Martial Artist, instead of a Blacksmith. But attending the Dojo was expensive and I got beaten up pretty bad." he whispers, remembering that painful memory. "Turns out I permanently damaged my leg. And I can't participate any more." Jr. rubbed his face. "If only I wasn't so stupid..."

"Don't you dare cry in front of me jerk." Ayame told him - **warned** him. "I swear I might kill you if you do."

He snickered, knowing that she was secretly emotional - or at least he assumed since she wore a mask at all times. "The point is... Pops wants you to find what you want. He saw you as a caged bird, and he wants to set you free."

Her soul lifted up at the sound of being free. "Sounds like your dad." She whispered, "I'll miss his weird poetry."

"Come here."

"Why...?"

"Just come here."

She did, hesitantly.

Ricky Jr. pulled her into a large bear hug, making Ayame stand awkwardly. She had never been hugged before especially when the person whose hugging her is sitting. Not even her family she left behind. She felt her shirt getting damp and heard soft manly whimpers. "You're like a sister to me. Just to let you know - Pops had it hard when he had to set you free. He had always wanted another child - a daughter. But he had to treat you like a boy-"

By then, Ayame was crying a river. He pulled away to wipe her tears.

"Hush, it's only for you Aya-"

Out of nowhere she punched his face, it didn't felt like a thing to the man. But it still stung. "I told you not to cry you - you jackass! You... You!" she cried, and sobbed in her arm that she brought up to cover her eyes. "Now I have to fix my make-up - it's running, stupid!" It was true, her mascara and eye liner was starting to run.

Jr. rubs his painful cheek, but manages to grin. For such a sweet girl, she does have a colourful vocabulary. Her swearing at him was one of her ways of saying how grateful she was. It felt only yesterday he saw the 15-year-old girl looking for a job, but now, he's watching the nearly 18-year-old girl walk to the washroom, cleaning her make-up.

She was all grown up. She was short structured and petite, but he knew that some day she'll be a heartbreaker - much like himself. He knew that one day, she'll be a bit taller, womanly, famous (or infamous), and smarter. Or at least, he hopes - he does want to be proud of her. He didn't want her to make any mistakes in her life. Like himself.

After she was done, she grabed her ransack and shove the bag of money and her small amount of clothes - there was some she got rid of. First, she's going to go shop for some things. Then she'll buy a boat. But 'til then, she'll just roam around as she shops.

"Now get lost, girl." Ricky Jr. said with a pain-stricken look.

"I won't forget what you and your father have done. I'll _never _forget you guys."

"Go, before I waste more of my manly tears!" he yells, waving his arms comically.

Ayame's fringes gave her eyes those dark shades, "Yessir."

* * *

**Ricky Junior.**

Right after Ayame leaves, Ricky Jr. immediately ran to find Usopp. He knew that the liar was on the island from the Magician's infromation. "HEY! USOPP!" He shouted, trying to find that long nose. "Excuse me ma'am, but have you seen a man with a strange nose?" he went up to a very attractive woman, dressed in red and black. _My, you are FINE lady! No, no! Not now, I have to get Usopp! _He thought and she gave him an indifferent look. But she oddly looks familiar. _Neh, can't be Alvida - she's... round... and scary._

"You mean this guy?" she pointed to the man with a red clown nose and sky blue hair, hidden in a cloak. Her voice is beautiful too!

Ricky Jr. shook his head. "No... Not him. The man I'm looking for is a man with a long nose. Have you seen him before?"

"Can't say I have." she waved him off.

"Then," He smiled charmingly at her, "How about you tell me your name? Let's get to know each-"

"NO!" she shouted, "Like I'd ever want to get to know you!"

"Jeez. Sorry I asked." He walked away, and just in time he saw the boy playing sharpshooter with an old guy and his young daughter. Junior knew that old guy must be Daddy, the bounty hunter.

Usopp shot the arrow and hits the bullseye in a fairly long distance. Junior let out a long whistle in approval from the back. He waited until the long nose's friends left.

"Hey, Usopp! Got a minute?!" Ricky Jr. yelled and ran over to him.

"Uh, yeah, sure." The Liar said, shock to see the other apprentice. "About what?"

The older man scratched his head. "Er... How do I put this?" he questioned himself. "Well, Ayame..."

"What about Ayame?!" Usopp mistook Ricky Jr.'s grave tone for something else. "Is she okay - What's-"

"No! Nothing like that!" He denied as the long nose gestured him to go on. "She's no longer an apprentice." he whispered

This greatly shocked the Liar. "So what now?" he asked, not knowing to else to say.

"Well, I was wondering, if you and your crew would like an extra hand - I mean, she is a..." Jr. stopped to think, snapping his fingers. "A... a-"

"Magician?"

"Yes! That!" He grinned. "It's just, my Father wanted to let her have her own dream instead of being like a cooped up bird." Ricky Jr. sighed, happy to get that out. "So, I hope you get her on board with you?"

Usopp grinned. "Duh! Of course! She's a great asset to the crew! I, Captain Usopp will-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Jr. interrupted, "Now, I better beat it! Before she kills me if she finds out! I mean - Look at what she did to my handsome face?! Brutal! No wonder the ladies are scared!" he joked and pointed to his swollen cheek.

_Yeah... That really is brutal..._ Usopp sweat dropped, but he too had his fair share of being punch by Ayame herself. From reflexes to real _I will kill you and beat you up_ punches. By the way, that's her quote. Makes no sense because she usually misquotes a lot of things. Killing and beating someone up is two entirely different things.

"Well, see ya Usopp! Take care of that troublesome girl!"

"You bet!"

* * *

**The Docks.**

The skies darken, but it wasn't evening just yet, and the weather got windy. The ex-apprentice now became a wanderer. Then, just to make her day less perfect, storms and rain barged in. She took out a grey trench coat and put it on, unbuttoned and unzipped. Who had time for that anyways?

Ayame huffed, maybe tomorrow she'll set sail. The water was too dangerous. Besides, there was a ruckus going on in Town square. Something about pirates. She wants to go and look, but she didn't want to be involved with Marines and police there.

Now, who was the pirates here again? There was Buggy, Alvida, Luffy and Ricky Junior's client named Dragon. But Ayame wasn't sure if that man was a pirate. Then there's the Marines; Smoker and his Lieutenant.

And damn, she had heard about Alvida's sudden weight loss. What has she been taking? And what made her lose so muchweight? Strange things happen to strange people.

Suddenly, another gust of wind nearly sent the girl flying – if it weren't for the heavy bags giving her extra weight. She was thin since she's only 5'4''; a petite girl. Shorter than average in this world. The average was 5'6'' -5'7'' for women. _I better head back to my hotel. I've got everything I need for my leave._

"AHAHAHAHAHA! OKAY! GUM GUM-" A familiar voice yelled out and Ayame's eyebrows went to a V shape as her eyes narrowed. She looked everywhere to find that familiar source. _Huh, _she thought. _That's weird. I thought I heard Luffy..._

Additional voices echoed in her ears. "What?!" _Is that Usopp's voice? What's going on here? Where are they?_

"Oh no." This one was Sanji.

"I'm not gonna like this." A deep, coarse voice; Roronoa Zoro.

_Where are they?! _She thought, Ayame didn't want to be spotted by their Captain and join their crew. Being a pirate is something she doesn't wish to be. Besides, she's being tracked by "other people", and she doesn't want to be tracked by Marines as well. Call her a coward, but these "people" who were tracking her is far worse than being tracked by the Government and Marines.

* * *

**Straw Hats.**

Luffy made himself into a sling shot, but just the rubber part. How fitting; a rubberman doing what rubber should do. He laughed, "Okay! GUM GUM-" he stretched further.

Usopp, Sanji and Zoro gaped at their crazy captain. He wasn't thinking about going back to the ship - to which was already at sea with Nami on board, preparing to leave - the hard and stupid way. Was he?

"What are you doing Luffy?!" Usopp yelled as his legs shivered.

Sanji made a look and said: "Oh no," in a "He's going to do it again" attitude.

"I'm not going to like this." Zoro frowned and arms crossed together.

"-CANNON!" The rubber man screamed and suddenly they were on air. Although, not only did the Captain hit the three men. But the wandering magician as well, who ended up in the wrong place, in the wrong time; in front of Luffy's impact. They flew in mid-air towards their ship.

"WHAT THE HEY-HEY!?" Screamed the Magician as she hugged her shopping bags, she was down to 500 Beli. Give or take. Then she heard someone shout her name, "AYAME?!" She swore she saw a pink heart. Sanji went to smother her, but if it weren't for Luffy in the way. They all screamed and hit the large sail, and fell on to the deck of Merry Go.

Well, at least not for Ayame.

"Ugh," She groaned, and looked around. Her shopping bags seemed to be okay and her money was in place. "At least I fell on something comfy... yet hard," She mumbled, jumping up and down a bit. She saw Nami came up to her. _Great, out of all the other people. I run into these gangsters.  
_

"Ayame?! How did you get on here?" She questioned while smiling.

_Oh. I feel bad for the hotel manager, _the petite girl thought, _I guess I won't be able to pay for my room. As if I wanna pay up. Mwuhaha! _The Magician sat cross-legged. "Er... I don't know. I remember standing still and boom, I'm here." She mumbled and Sanji had a heart in his eye, and went to hug the Magician.

Nami saw this and kicked his head. Thankfully.

"Nice to see you too," Ayame said rather passive. The _setting her free for her own good_ still bothered her. She didn't really want to leave them, but it had to be done. She was _useless _there.

"Get... off me!" She heard someone yelled underneath her and Sanji.

The Magician got up quickly before that person got to shove her off, but he manages to shove Sanji off. But the cook didn't care, as long as he got to be acknowledged by a lady. "Sorr-... oh, it's just you." She said flatly while glaring harmlessly at him, and Zoro glares right back, but his glare was a little more intimidating. It gave her chills. He really is a daunting specimen.

"What do you mean by that?!" He questioned, without a doubt he was offended. But the girl held a small grudge against him and his mean words.

Ayame scoffed, and checked her prized weapon that was given from Ricky Jr.; the Fushigi no Tsubasa. It means 'Wings of Mystery'. _I hope it's not damaged. It was just given to me!_ It was pure white and shiny which somehow look like it was Heavenly-made by the Saint himself. But of course, the saint would be the Great Blacksmith Ricky of the East Blue. He made it about 23 years ago and given to one of Gold Roger's subordinates, only to be returned once he passed away.

But Ayame wasn't really an expert swordsman - Hell no. She had better things to do than play with swords, such as finding an escape pod and making sure she had everything before she leaves. Why would she fight with unneccesary people? It would be a shame to kill someone that she wasn't being paid to kill. So, she avoids conflicts with other people. Just being able to wield a sword and defending herself was good enough. But she hated fighting up close and personal.

"Hey, what's that?" Nami asked the younger girl and she took out her unnecessarily long katana, showing it to the Navigator. The blade wasn't normal; it was a reverse blade sword. It wasn't made to kill, but it could still hurt someone if use with malice. She was amazed at the foreign design. "I've never seen a sword like this... It's amazing! Did you make it?"

"No. My Master did, 23 years ago. It's well-known." _Well, previous Master now..._ The Magician shows her and Zoro was slightly interested. "It also has an extra dagger in the hilt. Which is why it's long... Ricky's son gave it to me." she sheathed her weapon and showed the small dagger that didn't have a reverse blade.

"But why?" Nami questioned with a friendly smile. It could be a deceitful smile for all Ayame knew. The Magician didn't trust her, maybe it was because she heard that the Navigator used to have some links to Arlong. Even it was a previous affiliation, she had to stay on guard. No matter what. Being tricked was her kryptonite.

Ayame froze in her place, thoughts and plans purged in her skull. _Don't tell her! Don't give them a reason to recruit you! It'll only be trouble! _Her mind screamed, but her heart reacted differently. It wanted that bit of joy of having people who actually make their time to spend with you. _It was never meant for me. Ricky just wanted to see it to good use. To protect myself when I leave._

"No reason. He just wanted to." The Magician white lied in front of the Navigator's face. She left out the part where she wasn't an apprentice any more. That she was in fact, a free woman.

...

_She's not telling the truth... Better play along. _Zoro peered over her right shoulder, staring at the strange but familiar weapon. "Hmph. Looks weird. It fits you," He said boredly, easily making her annoyed. He walked away.

"Well, it's quite useful..." Ayame said and mumbled under her breath, but he heard it. "Unlike you." He sensed her dirty look, but remained passive. She wasn't worth his time. "So, are you really going to the Grand Line?" she questioned the Navigator and she smiled, nodding.

_Stupid Nami. That scam of a magician got her wrapped around her deceitful fingers... _Zoro thought with his arms crossed._ Women._ He concluded and held his place to keep watch of his crewmates of this vile creature on board.

Nami's eyes wandered right behind the Magician. "Hey, look! A light!" She said out of the blue as she looked right pass Ayame. The Magician turned to look as well.

"Is that a lighthouse?" The Sniper questioned while clutching on the main mast.

...

Ayame sweat droped at the sight of him. _He looks like he's _**slowly**_ becoming a man. _"It's one of the guide post, I've heard. The entrance to the Grand Line is somewhere up ahead." She told them as she walked to where Usopp is, leaning on the mast with her arms crossed. "I see it all the time when I travel." _Come to think of it... I've never seen it shine so bright before.  
_

"The Grand line is somewhere, just out ahead." Luffy repeated in his own words.

"What now?" Nami questioned and looked over at her Captain.

"Do we have to go there in a frickin' hurricane like this?!" The Sniper asked bewildered. The Magician had a _positive_ attitude, the Swordsman nodded while smirking, the Cook gave thumps up, the Captain chuckled, and the Navigator giggled at Usopp.

"Oi! Wait," Luffy shouted, staring at Ayame. She inwardly sighed, she had hoped for him to be passive and not recognize her. "Since you're on my ship! And I finally found you," _Found me?_ She questions with a sweat dropped. "I want you to join my crew! AND I WON'T TAKE 'NO' AS AN ANSWER! AND..." the Captain yelled, smiling. "BECAUSE YOU'RE A MAGICIAN!"

"Luffy, give the girl a break!" Nami sighs with her hand on her head, indicating an upcoming head ache.

"Well, what do you say, Ayame!?" Sanji questioned with a heart in his visible eye. "Another girl wouldn't be bad now!"

She scratcheed the back of her neck and sighs, "I want to say 'No'. But you're giving me no choice but to stay silent on your question."

"WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!" He questioned, screaming with all his might as rain poured down. "I WANT A MAGICIAN TO JOIN! JOIN MY CREW! RIGHT NOW! C'MON, I KNOW YOU CAN!"

"Luffy!" The Navigator shouted, "Just remember she's a Blacksmith! She has a job to go back to!"

"Yeah, let's just dump her right here." Zoro agreed, "Hopefully she can swim." He huffed, and crossed his arms together. "If not, too bad. It was a _pleasure _to meet some puny brat."

"You jerk!" Ayame shouted at him, a vein on her forehead.

"I DON'T CARE! I'LL MARCH UP TO THAT BLACKSMITH GUY AND TELL HIM THAT I WANT AYAME TO BE IN MY CREW! I WANT A DAMN MAGICIAN!"

Usopp got down from the mast with an all-knowing smirk. He looked smug to the Magician. "Well, according to my information..." The Sharpshooter trailed, causing everyone to look at him.

He intentionally made it very silent for the time being.

"SPIT IT OUT!" They all shouted in comical relief.

"As I was saying," he said, "that you, Ayame!" he pointed at her, causing to stare at him curiously. "HAVE BEEN FIRED FROM BLACKSMITHING!"

"I WAS NOT FIRED!" She denied, blushing furiously, and punched his face.

"Ow! That was harsh!" Usopp yells, a fresh swollen bump on his face, that was steaming. "How else can I say it?!"

_NOT IN THAT WAY! THAT'S EMBARRASSING! 'FIRED'?! COME ON, COME UP WITH SOMETHING BETTER, DOOFUS!_ She yells in her mind as Zoro laughed, mocking her. _And this guy... _Ayame glares at him. Unexpected, she punchs the no-good Swordsman on the head as well. _You dare mock me knave?!_

"Gah!" he holds his aching head in pain. Her punch was similar to Nami's - but he couldn't tell which one was more violent.

"_**I. Was not. Fired.**_" She muttered dangerously at Zoro, in the most comically and animated way. Her fists in front of her, threateningly. "I was simply freed by-" she stopped herself before she could say anymore. _Dammit. I said too much._

Luffy screamed, "WHOO!"

Ayame's sighed as she watched the Captain dance in joy. There was simply no trouble to go back to Syrup Village then. But she secretly wants to go back, just to say goodbye to Ricky and his son personally. Although, that was really unlike her, she normally just leaves to avoid tears and sad moments. God she was a sucker for that._  
_

"YAY! Another girl!" Nami cheered. She's now their Magician, whether she has a say or not. Zoro grunted and huffed. He was tempted to just throw her overboard and say it was an accident.

"I didn't agree-"

"SHE AGREES!" Luffy shouted, clapping his hands with a wide grin.

"ARE YOU DEAF?!" Ayame screamed at him and went to punch him, only to be stopped by Usopp.

"Calm down!" he said, "You've got nowhere to go! Why is it so difficult for you?!"

"What made you go then?! He's crazy - so I've heard!" She made an excuse and pointed at Luffy, who laughed and danced away in the raging storm. Secretly, nearly everyone agreed to that. The answer was easy; the Captain was really, _really _persistent.

"Er..." Usopp trails, "New topic! You can be a magician! You're pretty good, right? So, join!" he said with a grin.

"Your reason sucks!" She flipped a table.

...

"Where the Hell did she get that table?" Zoro questioned with a sweat drop, along with Nami.

"Beats me..." she said, watching the Magician and the Sniper argue for what seems like hours as Luffy remained passive and kept going on about having the coolest crew in history.

Sanji spread his visible hearts around. "She's a magician! That's why~" he cooed, answering the question and grinned as the table fell to the ocean.

"Oh, yeah." The Navigator said, but astounded that a table appeared out of nowhere.

"Look at how cute she is~!"

"She's wearing a mask!" Zoro shouted, denying such thing. "How could you have possibly know?!"

"It's not like you have any eye on women, but the way she talks and walks and acts - I know she is!" The Cook said. "What a cutie~! I just wanna pinch her cheeks~"

_..._

"Want some tea Mademoiselle?" Sanji asked Nami as he showed the hot tea in a server and holds an umbrella in his other hand.

"Yes, please." She said, watching Usopp get beat up by Ayame as Luffy tries to get her to join in with his dancing. The Magician was pretty hard-headed and stubborn.

But alas, it ended.

Reluctantly, Ayame gave in. "Fine, fine!" she yelled and rolled her eyes, "You won this round, but just you wait... Just you wait." she glares at the now broken face of Usopp. They were good friends, but she sometimes took advantage of him.

He grinned (or at least it looked like one) at Luffy and gave him the thumbs up.

The Captain slapped his new Nakama's back with a happy grin. "I knew you'd give up, Stupid! Everyone does! Ah ha ha ha!"

That earn the Captain a death glare. "I have a name. It's Ayame." she muttered. "**Not. Stupid.**"

"Okay, okay. Settle down." The Cook said. "I guess we should say something to mark the occasion." Sanji stated, grinning. He went to grab a barrel and set it in front of everyone.

"Wonderful..." the Magician mumbled, rubbing her forehead. _I knew this was trouble._

"I'm going to the grand line to find the all blue." The Cook stuck his foot out and put it on top of the barrel.

"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy shouted while grinning and put his foot in also.

"The world's best swordsman," Zoro said smirking proudly, somewhat cocky and put his foot on the barrel. Ignoring the Magician for the time being.

_Psh. You wish. _Ayame thought ill of him.

"I'm going so I can draw a map of the entire world!" Nami smiled and put her foot on the barrel.

"I guess I'm going..." Usopp trails off, "to be a brave warrior of the sea!" He shouted and put his foot on the barrel.

They turn to the Magician, expecting her to say something.

She looks away, kind of embarrass that she was aimless. "I don't have..." she coughs, "I don't have a dream. So... I'll just stand here. Continue..."

Luffy helped her, "Don't worry! You can just say you dream of finding what you really want!" he said with a grin and snickered.

"I can say that?"

"Of course!"

"Alright then... I guess," She copied everyone's stance and put her foot in. "I want to find what I really want... I guess," she said.

"AND WE'RE GOING..." The Captain started and they broke the barrel with their foot, "TO THE GRAND LINE!" Nearly everyone shouted. But for Ayame, who stayed quiet for the rest of the day. _What a mess I've gotten into..._

* * *

_Welcome **khr216**! Thank you for your support~!  
_

_Also, the future chapters will be longer and there might be a lot of chapters. Unintentionally. But the plot is more important! Otherwise I'd have to kill Ayame - Er... that didn't come out right... I mean -_

- Gets cut off by the commercial (below) -

_**Stay Fab. I know you will~**_

_**~ Review ~ Rage ~ PM ~ Favorite ~ Follow ~**_


	5. Heat Stroke and Creepers

**"Stop waiting for your Prince Charming. Get up and go find him.**

**The poor idiot may be stuck on a tree or something."**

**~ Funny Quotes ~**

***Just a tiny short filler up ahead. Made up and odd. I may post up the next chapter tomorrow or the next day. I need to finish this so you understand!**

*** Added a bit of details around the middle. **

* * *

**A few days later...**

It was a sunny afternoon and it was a nightmare.

Usopp and Nami tried to stop Zoro and Ayame's argument. There was simply no end to their differences. It was Swordsman versus Magician. Luffy just laughed at the mockeries the Magician and Swordsman made to each other, he seemed careless of what's happening to his crew mates. Sanji just ignored it.

"What did you say about my hair colour?!" the Magician yelled furiously at the Swordsman.

"You heard me!"

"I'm afraid I didn't hear you properly!"

"I SAID IT LOOKS LIKE COTTON CANDY, YOU PHOBIC!" He shouted at her, viciously. Zoro made it sound like her hair is a fluffy ball on a cone with a phobia of not hearing people. The girl's face was red and furious.

"YOU -"

"C'mon you two! Can you just get along?!" Usopp yelled at them from the back as the Navigator stood in front of them.

They turned to look at the Sniper, "NO!" They shouted in sync and glared at each other.

"I _dyed_ my hair pink!" Ayame said, "What about you, Moss head?!"

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!" he bellowed.

"MOSS HEAD! GRASS HAIR! SEAWEED! MOLD! DINOSAUR! BROCCOLI! BEAN! FROG! PICKLE! CACTUS-"

The last one got to him. "WHY YOU LITTLE!" The Swordsman grabbed his sword and brought it out. Ayame copied to defend herself, bring out her only weapon. It might be the worst thing she ever done. He was intimidating her and just looking at his muscles purely suggested that he was physically stronger than her in so many different levels. Good thing she doesn't play fair all the time, with her being a magician and all.

"THAT'S ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Nami boomed, her fist up with an aggressive look. "ZORO, ENOUGH OF YOUR TRUST ISSUES! AND AYAME, JUST IGNORE HIM! NO MORE NAME CALLING! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!"

Reluctantly, they stopped staring eye to eye. The Magician backed off - rather quickly - as Roronoa Zoro stood his ground. She went to the nets with her arms crossed as she sat on a comfy place. _Now, what? He's suspicious of me. Ugh... Why?! S_he thought, mentally hitting her head on a wall repeatedly. Then an idea popped up. _I know! I'll jump overboard, pretend I'm drowning, look innocent and then I won't be seen as a threat. BECAUSE, _Ayame couldn't think of anything else anymore. She was stressing from all that stress that the Swordsman gave her.

She has a headache from over thinking as she clutched her head._ Over-exerted myself... Great. Now how am I...- _Before she knew it, her eyes closed. Her mind in a warp of darkness.

...

Zoro glared at the back of that 'no-good' Magician. She was just nothing but trouble in his eyes. And maybe a potential threat. He scoffed, _I don't know who the Hell this specimen thinks she is, but I intend to find out. _

"Hey Aya-" the Sniper turned to the nets and paused. "HEY! AYAME, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-" he paused again, causing the First Mate to look over at the Magician. Her grip on the nets was about to let go. "SHIT! SHE OVER-EXERTED HERSELF!" The Sniper yelled and ran to her aid, only to trip due to his clumsiness.

The Swordsman wanted to ignore the Magician. But he couldn't. He cannot just simply let a person die in his watch. "Damn it all." He muttered, running to the fainted specimen. He grabbed her hand before she could fall into the ocean.

"Oh, Zoro! Thanks for saving her!" Usopp said, panting.

"What's this about _over-exerting_ herself?"

The Sniper scratched his head. "In sunny days, like today, she sometimes gets heat stroke."

"Heat stroke?! Why didn't you say earlier?!" The Swordsman questioned, but huffed. "Nevermind. I'll take this idiot inside." He swung the door open. He carried Ayame to the bench in the kitchen.

The other three crew mates look at him then eyed the girl on his shoulder.

"AYAME~! What happened?!" Sanji ran towards the Swordsman. The Cook glared accusingly at Zoro. "What did you do?!"

"She has heat stroke."

Nami stood up immediately, this was serious news, and came in front of him. "That's because she's been staying too long in the sun!" she said, "Quickly - Put her on the bench! Sanji, get a cold cloth and ice packs! And Luff-... Uh, just, sit there."

The men did what they were told, no questions asked. Usopp was the only one out on the Crow's nest; on look out.

"Hey, Nami!" the Sniper yelled from outside as he opened the door. "There's an island in sight!"

"Okay!" she smiled, and went back in. "At least we know about Ayame's heat stroke. If Usopp didn't say anything or Ayame didn't tell him, it could be fatal. If left alone and unattended."

"What's heat stroke again?" the Captain questioned, confused.

The Navigator let out a deep sigh. "Heat stroke happens through too much exposure to high temperatures. It can kill or cause damage to the brain or other internal organs-"

Sanji made an inhuman noise or squeal in horror.

"It's usually cause by dehydration. The symptoms are usually," she pauses to think for a moment. "Confusion, disorientation, nausea, loss of consciousness or coma... I think."

"Great." Zoro muttered for the last part. He was a bit concerned about her. He didn't want her to die just yet. Because he still needed answers.

"What do I have to do?!" The Love Cook cried.

"I'm no doctor, Sanji." Nami sighed. "But if this happens again, she'll be more in risk of sunlight exposure. You just need her to drink 8 glasses of water. I'll make sure she wears a lot of sunscreen, lightweight clothing and a wide-brimmed hat."

"I'll do everything in my power!"

"Oh... So, it's a bad thing?" Luffy questioned, simplicity overwhelmed him.

"At least you understood that part." Nami frowned at him.

...

The crew docked on an island called 'Forget-me-not'. Cute name for such a strange-looking island. It looked distasteful; olive yellow, hot pink, dark browns and a lot of dull colours. The three most powerful pirates in the crew left to explore or do Nami's bidding.

"Ayame..." the Navigator called the sleeping Magician. They had to get her for a check up at least. "Wake up," she shook her and the girl jolted awake with her arms positioned like a Kung Fu wannabe.

"I know Crazy and I have a black belt!" she shouted in complete bluff. But it was also an act to cover her real way of waking up.

The Navigator turned to the long nose beside her, she caught him roll his eyes in response. "She does this often when she recovers?"

"That's Ayame for you."

"Odd."

Usopp tugged the Magician's arm. "C'mon Ayame, we need to get you to the doctor on this weird island."

"Yeah, Luffy and the others left already."

"What are you talking about? I'm completely fine!" The Magician said and ripped the blanket off, hopping to her feet. "See? I'm fine, just A-OK-" She took a step only to stumble 5 feet away and crash into the door, then ultimately, the ground.

The two other crew mates went to her aid, asking if she was okay.

"'Course I'm okay – I... meant to do that actually..." The injured girl said, "I call it:_ The Sorceress have... fallen_."

The two shared a look before looking at the possibly deranged Magician. "Let's just take you to the Doctor." Nami narrowed her eyes at the girl with her brows in a V-shape. "Oh, and wear this – and take out that mask too! It's warm!" She gave Ayame a wide-brimmed hat in the colour of peach. It is a **must **for her clothes to be light.

"I... What's this about?"

"You have to wear light clothing Ayame, you're heat stroke is getting worse." Usopp said and dragged her to the deck. "Nami is going to go buy some clothes for you – If she has the money." He looked at her.

"Well... we might have enough to buy 3 pairs of clothes and the expense for a doctor appointment." She told them with a slight frown.

The Magician didn't want to owe anyone anything. "Actually... I could pay for my stuff." She still has 500 Beli.

...

As the three heads to the clinic, they were encountered by a strange man who dwells in that place. He looked like he has a bad case of death. Oily graying hair, thin body, a sunken-looking face, and deathly gray skin with age spots of all sizes. One of his eyes was smaller than the other. His clothes were a cloak in a dull olive-green. He looked like a flasher than a doctor.

"Hello ladies... and _boy_." He says eerily with a plastered grin; a few teeth missing. This is where Nami would say, 'If you're not whitening, you're yellowing.' But was it even yellow? It looked slightly green and a few were black. His nails were a looker either for the Navigator.

Ayame, a bit fuzzy, she couldn't see the man properly. She probably looked like a drunk hanging around the Sniper's and Navigator's shoulders. Disoriented was another word for it. "Are you the doctor?" She said with a slight slur. It's just too hot for her fragile head, she felt so sick that she might as well puke everything she has in her stomach. She leaned against Usopp, after losing her footing.

The other two pirates looked at the man with a frown.

The old man grinned, thinking that this was his lucky day. "Why... Of course I am. I am Mr. Forget-me-not, " He boasted, "Come in, Lovelies."

"No way, you greasy old man!" Nami sneered, grasping Ayame's arm and turns away. "We'll find a different doctor!"

"Go ahead, leave... But you'll come back." His dark eyes glowered with a wolf grin, eyeing the particular pirate. "They _always _come back... Lovelies." He slowly backed away in his shady home, closing the door slowly, watching them ever-so-slightly. Once the door closed, they saw him peering through the window with a wicked smile. "Forget me not," he mouthed to them with a creepy wave as his fingers wiggled.

"What the Hell is up with that guy?!" Usopp yelled, watching his back every 5 seconds. The old man still stared at them with a glint in his aging eyes. "Is he some kind of a pedophile or something!?"

"Who cares! I just want to get away from him!" Nami shouted, dragging the sick girl. "We'll just go to the pharmacy - hopefully they have something!"

...

"Well?" the Navigator questions another creepy man, "Do you have anything?" She questioned impatiently, looking at the back of his head.

The man shifted, there something odd about the people in this island. "You should get her checked up by a doctor," He said, well _hissed _like a deceitful snake, trying to sugar coat the venom that spewed out of its mouth. But instead of venom, it was words. No one can sugar coat venom.

"Ugh! Then tell me who and where!"

"If it's too much trouble... I'll do it." He said, turning to them. His appearance looked familiar.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Nami and Usopp yelled. "ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?!"

"No... Of course not." The old man said, "Can't you tell the voice tone differences?" There was a very odd and disturbing feature on him; a large mole on his neck.

Ayame felt like fainting. The room felt too warm and exercising was too much for her. "Just get me a damn doctor! I'm dying over here!" she yelled and rubbed her head.

Nami frowned, "I know. But..." She sighed, giving up. "Just do it quickly! But I'll be watching you, old man!"

Mr. Forget-me-not #2 grinned, "Well, I won't complain~" But that earned him a punch from the Navigator.

...

"AHH!"

The pirates looked at each other, worried, then they ran towards the room and burst the door open. Only to see Ayame's ankle roped to the table with the old guy trying to sooth her. She tried to get away from him as the Navigator got up to the screaming girl.

"What's going on?! Why are you tied up?!" Usopp shouted, hiding behind the furious Nami.

"H-his hands!" the Magician whimpered, holding the Navigator's hand as she pointed to the creeper's hand.

"What did you do you pedophile?!" The furious girl yelled at the old guy.

* * *

**Sanji.**

The guy was a bit disturbed by the appearances from this island. Everyone was ridiculously identical. It's creepy. He looked at the the windows where clothes were being displayed; it was nice. But why didn't they have that much women apparel? Oh well. It just means he has to search - OH THERE IT IS!

"Finally!" he grinned and looked at the only feminine store available. It had cute designs - _For a cute girl~ _He thought and ran in, only to find that a man was behind the counters. Guess what? He looked the same as everyone else! Much to Sanji's disappointment. But he shopped anyways, he was only given 1,000 Beli. He had to get food, Ayame's clothes, and extra things for both of the girls - like buying a bit of accessories.

He looked at the colours and thought light tinted clothes of pink, orange, yellow and beige would suit the Magician and her appearance. If she had darker colours she'd look a bit tougher looking, but Sanji being Sanji, he preferred Ayame to look cute rather than a gangster or a rebel. So he bought a bit too much considering the very cheap even was a gentleman to buy Nami some clothing. It's like there was no such thing as women on Forget-Me-Not Island.

...

**Zoro.**

He and the other two members of the crew eventually found each other. There was one problem that the Cook was facing; his stolen groceries and bags. So they set off to find his items. Apparently, the Cook had left the bags for only a minute to grab some things and when he came back, it was missing. Besides, what else is there to do? Well, he could think about finding a way to find out who this Ayame was exactly! She isn't normal to him for an odd reason. Maybe it was the air that surrounds her. The feeling of deceit and mystery surrounds her very being.

_Whoever the Hell she is. She better be careful. Cause I'm going to find out who she is and if she doesn't fit to my standards... _He glowered, _She'll be answering to me. If she is indeed innocent, then I won't bother her. But still... she cannot be trusted. Heat stroke or not. She's a snake._

"All of Ayame's items!" Sanji cried then returned to his real attitude. "Whoever's the shitty idiot who did that - I swear! I'll skin him and make him into a -"

"Sanji! Can I have the specialty food that Ayame's having too?!" The Captain questioned with a big grin on his face.

"NO!"

"BUT I WANT SOME -"

The Swordsman just grunted and looked everywhere. Of course this place was strange. It seemed that everyone was hiding or perhaps gone to a bingo party. And he still couldn't trust that Magician. Everything was just getting stranger and stranger. "Oi," he said, "Is that the bags?" Zoro looked at the groceries and bags.

Sanji turned to looked and yelled in happiness. "It is!" He ran up to it and the others followed it. But the bags moved away almost instantly - away from the Cook's hands. "What the - Come back here you!" He shouted angrily as the Swordsman and Captain followed, wondering what the Cook was doing.

They were led to a dark alley way then to the stairs, they climbed up the stairs and chased the running bags. Luffy even tried his Gum Gum powers, but to no avail. Zoro had tried to cut it down, but Sanji interrupted him. Shouting things like "You can't cut that! You'll wreck the clothes I bought her!" or "What good will that do, huh?!"

_Stupid Cook._

Somehow they ended up at the terrace and the items were stilled. "Got it, you stupid-" Sanji was cut off as Zoro was about to grab his swords, but it didn't work as a needle was shot in their blind spots. All three resisted, only to be shot a few more times. And again. The bags were moved by a fishing rod, apparently they had a well experienced Fishermen among the men in cloaks. Every single one of them looked alike.

"Got them~" The creeper giggled and did a little pelvis thrust in triumphant.

* * *

**Back to the Doctor.**

"H-His hands!" Ayame shouted, inching away from him as his hands inched closer.

"Hey! Quit it!" the Navigator shouted angrily, trying to loosen the knot on the rope. "We'll go somewhere else if you-" She looked at his hands and screeched.

The Magician that nearly fainted looked over to the Navigator. "Y-you see it right?!"

Usopp glanced at it and cringed. "What the Hell! That's a huge mole!" He looked at the quarter sized mole with a couple of hairs on it. It wasn't because Ayame was touched in an odd place, it was a mole that bothered her. It looked alive.

Nami looked over to the Magician and frowned. "That's it? You were afraid of a mole?" She questioned the girl.

"NO!" She shouted, "I swear I saw it on his neck! But it... it's on his hand!"

The Sniper rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You were probably seeing things!"

Mr. Creepy #2 nodded, "Of course, of course! It's normal for being a bit delusional - but in your case, Ayame, you ARE delusional! Ahahahaha... AHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed, mocking her as she gave him the 'are your serious?' look and the others sweat dropped. He collected himself together and smiled strangely. "Now let's get serious - if you'll let me."

"Heck no!"

"Wow, what a rebel..." Usopp rolled his eyes when he said that sarcastically.

"I don't want him to touch me!"

"My dear, I need to see your condition." The Doc said and showed his hands again, only that Ayame was relaxed for some reason. _Where is his mole? _She asked herself. He checked up on her as the others stood back, behind the man.

* * *

**Beating up those Creeps.**

"OI! What the Hell are you doing?!" The Swordsman shouted at the creepy old man with a mole on the side of his head. It looked alive. The old man grinned from ear to ear with more identical looking clones of his popping out of nowhere. Sanji and Luffy awoke because of the Swordsman. The Cook reacted the same way as Zoro but the Captain remained confused.

"Dance party~!" One of the clones yelled. "New men!"

"Hey, what's with these shitty morons?!"

"Who cares! Let's find a way to escape!"

Luffy laughed at the way the creeps danced. It seemed like it was a free style dance of some sort, and he wanted to join. "Yeah! Party! Party!"

"PARTY~ BACHELOR PARTY! WOO!"

The three pirates froze and pondered. They realized something odd and weird.

"OH, HELL NO!" They ripped out of the poorly knotted ropes.

* * *

**We're leaving!**

Nami left to aid the Magician, leaving Usopp alone on the bench. outside the room. The Doctor came by and sat on the farthest end of the bench, this made the Sniper uncomfortable.

Slyly, the creepy doctor inched closer to the boy, causing him to freeze and move a bit away. This continued until they reached to the end. The man pretended to yawn, his arms stretch and headed towards the back of Usopp's neck.

"OI! What the Hell!?" He screamed and his legs shivered.

"What? It's normal to stretch after a yawn." He said with a toothy grin.

Nami peered out the door with Ayame following behind. "What now?" She questioned, irritated. The Magician looked better after the pill the Doc gave her a couple hours ago. The Navigator didn't received any answers and rolled her eyes. "Let's just go! Ayame's fine now!"

"Aw! Do you have to leave that early-"

"YES!" she and Usopp bellowed at the Creep.

The boy whimpered, "Hey Nami - Let's go! This place is so weird!"

"Right." The angry navigator muttered and marched to the Doctor, giving him a punch on the head. After that, she headed towards the pirate ship with the others trailing 10 feet away from Nami. Why? Because the Creep charged them more than expected. 1,000 Beli for a walk-in appointment and the 'special' medicine. So the Magician was left to use up all her money and Nami paid the rest.

...

The three strongest of the crew knew what was going on. In an instant, they beat the older men up. They, the 'Creeps', whimpered as they received multiples of bumps on their heads. It wasn't because they thought the pirates were weak, they just thought their ropes could hold them good. But knowing the trio, they could do anything. So the ropes was a failure. All they wanted was a party with men only. Only bachelors! This** is** the Forget-Me-Not Bachelors' Island! The only strange and small island in the East Blue!

One of the men ran off and went to the Doctor who just saw the other three pirates leave. "D-Doctor! Those men - they don't want to be bachelors! Wahh!" The young bachelor who looked to be exactly like the Creepy Doctor. "What should we do?!"

"Let them leave."

"EH?!"

The Doc took off his façade, mask, wig, and everything that made him strange. He smirked, "Maybe they're not meant to be. They did have a couple of girls. Maybe their soon-to-be woman. Ah, I wish I could be caressed by young man or lady."

"Don't we all...?"

"Ah, release them! If they don't wanna party - It's their lost!"

"I want a pirate husband!" The escapee complained dramatically.

* * *

**Actually**** leaving.**

"Goodbye boys~!" The old men, who strangely had the same faces, of the village waved and wiggled their fingers in sync. This caused Usopp, Sanji and Zoro to cringe and shiver. Nami only grinned and waved as well as Luffy. Ayame looked at them rather oddly and kept staring at the visible moles.

"I think I just understood the name of this island." The Magician cringed as the boys beckoned the Captain to leave already.

Just when they left about a few meters away, the men on the land started to take off their cloaks. To their horror and shock, it was actually a disguise and the men were actually in their late 20's and attractive. They had everything a girl would like, including 8 packs. The men had all kinds of types. The geeky good-looking, the 'tall, dark & handsome', the Dorks, the Bad Boys, the Jerks and a **lot** more. The horrifying part was they were either in their small-clothes or birthday suit. They were just showing their peacock to the pirates with no shame at all.

"PERVERTS!" Both the Cook, Sniper and Swordsman yelled angrily as Luffy watched in awe.

"THEY'RE MEN!" He proclaimed and gaped. "They really are men!"

"Shut up!" Nami yelled, "They're perverts who like young people!" As she blinded Ayame, preventing to let her get scarred. The moles were everywhere and a couple was on an unforgivable spot.

"FORGET ME NOT!" They screamed. "Get married to the ones you love or we'll take you away again~ We know you'll come back~"

"Hell no!" Sanji screamed and went to the rudder, trying to get Merry to go. "Like Hell I would want to marry you! I'M STRAIGHT, AND I LOVE WOMEN!"

* * *

**I've got nothing against bisexuals! Proof? I made them dashingly handsome with 8-packs~! I love people like them~ Unfortunately I only have one friend that is Bi. And she's SO awesome! She's my first friend I had in my second elementary! Love you "Kitty Kat"~**

_Reviews~_

_mint aeros: Awww~ Thank you! But don't worry, you'll find out Ayame's dream soon!_

_fabulous guest: Ermergerd. That name. UUUGH! Just fabulous! And thank you~ I thought Luffy was a bit OOC. But I'm glad to know that! And I love that part as well, my highlight of that chapter. Zoro wanting to toss Ayame off the ship. :)_

**OH YOU~!**

**Thank you : **

**Faeyne Dreamwalker, KEEler 21, and Nebelkatz!**

**_Stay Fabulous!_**

**_~ Review ~ Rage ~ PM ~ Favorite ~ Follow ~_**


	6. Grand Line

**"Whatever life gives you, even if it hurts,**

**just be strong & act like you're okay.**

**Strong walls shake, but never collapse.****"**

**~ Life quotes ~**

* * *

**To the Twin Capes.**

Sanji and Zoro were on the crow's nest as the Cook went on look out. The Swordsman just came up there because he didn't have anything else to do. Mainly because the Magician didn't want to spar with the First Mate. Not yet at least. Apparently, Ayame was told that the Swordsman still had a wound across his chest from Dracul Mihawk. But he wanted to know something about her, and he didn't know her techniques very well, he wanted to know more about that appendage that's always avoiding him. The Swordsman figured if he could witness her preferred fighting range and style, he could know more about her personality.

For example, if she was a distance fighter, that will only prove to him that she doesn't like to get personal with anyone. So eventually, it will come to the conclusion of having a threat on ship. But if she was a close combatant, then it will be the opposite. It won't concern him that much, but if he sees a slight error. That girl could be bluffing.

"Nami, my love~!" the Cook started and continued on. "I have a report, major cloud over ahead! Big rain clouds~" He yelled like a 5-year-old in love. Cute, but coming from that certain person; gross.

The First Mate sweat dropped at Sanji, who had hearts spreading around himself, like it was Valentine's day. The Swordsman thought that certain holiday was for losers who wanted and liked to get coaxed by the other lover. If it were up to him, it would be any day in Autumn, like _Shubun no hi. _Or in other words the Autumn Equinox day on the 23rd of September. A public holiday were everyone was to be involved to pay their blessings to the deceased. There is no religion in it, so it's a peaceful holiday. But he wasn't too keen on visiting graves on that day, but instead of the beauty of the 3rd season of the year. Sadly, Autumn hasn't come yet. But he will wait.

"There's a storm coming!" the Cook continued shouting happily. Despite the weather that was coming ahead.

_Could have said that earlier..._ Zoro thought, rudely.

Nami looked up and nodded to him.

"Thanks Sanji!" She shouted back. Then Luffy came up, excited as usual. Actually, that was a lie. He's more excited than usual, after having a chat with the Magician. She looked smug - or at least that's what he sensed from that demon spawn.

Ayame grinned, by the looks of the out lines on the mask, and walked inside with the Navigator. She told him something that made the young Captain excited. Probably about nearing the Grand Line. Nami chatted away to the other girl asking what she liked, when her birthday was, her dislikes. He could vaguely her the Magician said she _detested _the First Mate. The man irked and snarled silently.

"Wow, we're almost there! The Grand Line at last!" The Captain shouted with a goofy grin across his face as he started slapping patting Sanji's back rather hard. Luffy giggled uncontrollably. "Isn"t this exciting?! We did it, **WE DID IT**!" He shouted as his voice deepened, trying to control his feelings. But he got kicked on the face.

"CUT IT OUT!" Sanji shouted at the irritating Captain.

"Sorry..." Luffy muttered and stared at Zoro. He gave him an odd look. _Was this her plan? To make this idiot bother me?! What nerve that Demon spawn has..._

"Okay then... ZORO!" The Captain slapped his back like pals.

"OW!" He shouted, the strength his Captain was immense. "STOP THAT!" He shouted at Luffy and tried to stop him.

A few minutes after, Nami announced that they will have a meeting right away, she knew that the Cape was just up ahead and she wanted to plan ahead of time. The sudden currents were pretty rough, no one helped Usopp and Ayame to steer the rudder, no one wanted to answer the Sniper's questions, and within minutes, the meeting turned into an argument. Just between Zoro and Nami. Logic VS Fact.

The Magician suspected that Reverse Mountain was closer than they thought. "Can I, uh, have a say in this?" She questioned quietly, while Zoro and Nami turned to Ayame with anger.

"NO!" They shouted as the pale girl flinched at the outburst then huffed with her arms crossed. She shook her head at them. _How rude. Wait a second..._ She looked down to her hands._ Wasn't I helping Uso- _"Oh, Usopp!" She remembered and helped him with the rudder again.

The boy grunted and tried to turn the rudder. "Can someone explain to me why the currents are insanely strong?!" The Sniper shouted loudly as the two tried to gain the rudder to the right place.

That snapped the Navigator's thoughts. "Usopp - What did you just say?" Nami questioned, finally acknowledging the two.

"I asked, if any of you noticed the insane strength of this current?!" Usopp shouted impatiently.

"The current...? That must be..! Why didn't you guys tell me sooner?!" She questioned incredulously. The two glanced at each other and stared back at her with irritation.

"We tried." They muttered in a unison and glared at her.

"Uh..." Nami said but it came out as a question. "Oops?"

Ayame sighed, "All right. Let's just fix this." She suggested and the Navigator nodded. "We need to get control of the rudder." The Magician told them some things about the great Twin Capes.

**...  
**

The Navigator looked outside with a binocular to see the mountain, the water is going up. "So, it really is true! The kennels to go to the Grand Line is actually going up!" she started and the men looked at her weirdly.

"Oh, come on. How could that possibly work?" Zoro questioned, not believing every word Nami or Ayame just said.

"It just does." The Magician said straight out of the blue and they looked at her. "That's why-" She struggled with the rudder, "-the currents are like this. But we must gain a more steady rudder otherwise..." she trailed but didn't go any further.

"See? At least someone understands!" Nami huffed at the boys. "All right, look right here!" She pointed on the map, "You see, remember that guiding light was directing us to the Red Line? Well..." She tried to explain to them but they didn't get it.

**...  
**

"Yeah..." The Captain started and Ayame looked at him as she cocked her eyebrow at him, seeing if he really did understood Nami's predictions... unlike Zoro. "It's basically a Mystery Mountain. Heh. Heh. Heh." He laughed like a quirk with his shoulder going up and down as he laughed.

"Makes sense. But still, boats do not climb mountains!" Zoro debated and Ayame rolled her eyes and shook her head in disapproval.

"She never said boats can** climb** a mountain. It's the harsh currents that is simply forcing us into the opening of the Grand Line. If you don't believe her, you can look at the currents outside when we're near." The Magician suggested to him and he huffed. At least she understood the Navigator's solution. _I was trying to be NICE you know!_

"Right. Well, I've heard a few stories about this mountain." Sanji started as the others stared at him.

"Stories like the Mystery Mountain?" Luffy whispered like a detective as the crew gave him the look.

"No..." Sanji answered, "What I heard is that more than half the people tried to make it to the Grand Line died before they can even get there. Whatever we find, isn't going to be easy." He finished. Then out of nowhere, it starts raining rather harsh.

"That story you heard of, is possibly true. The Grand Line has many mysteries and many strong pirates." Ayame told them, "What lies in front of us now... there's no turning back."

"Got any last words before you die Demon Spawn?"

"Shut up Cactus. You ruined a dramatic moment I've created!"

"You wish."

**...  
**

"Sanji, sails!" Nami yelled as she was looking at the map.

"Anything for you~!" He shouted in a love struck manner. "Luffy, help me!" he demanded and went off.

The Magician grabbed a grey coat and put it over her beige sweater. She usually wears simple clothes, unlike Nami who was a bit of a narcissist.

"HEY! I can see the Mystery Mountain!" They all heard Luffy shouted from outside.

Nami, Usopp and Zoro stared at each other which turned into glares. Ayame, not knowing what's going on just watch curiously. She was unsure what was going until she realized the problem. She rolled her eyes as they ran to the door and said things like "I'm going first!", "I'm the navigator!", and stuff.

The Magician got impatient and gave them one push, it didn't work at first. "Oh, come on you guys! Lose - some - weight!" She pushed some more. Thankfully they went through and didn't have time to argue with Ayame as they all scrambled up and looked. But she guess they were glad, they weren't stuck anymore. She calmly walked to the deck as it poured and look at the mountain ahead of them. She pulled up her large hood.

"Gah! That's insanely huge!" Usopp shouted with a large mouth. "IT'S TALLER THAN THE CLOUDS!"

"Amazing!" Nami awed and smiled as Zoro gaped.

"No way... It really does go up the mountain!" He said shock as he looked through the binoculars.

"Hah, the Navigator was right." Ayame smirked as she walked away, "Told you so, stupid Cactus!"

"Tch, whatever illogical Demon spawn."

"We have to make our way through those water gates just right!" Nami shouted as she pointed at the crack in between the mountain, through the dense fog. "Or we'll crash to the Red Line, and we'll be smashed into pieces!" she warned and just then, the ship drifted off course. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU GUYS?!"

"We got to go right!" Luffy shouted as he got in front of ship. "THE RIGHT!"

"The Right?!" The Sniper questioned.

"That's right!" The Magician told him as she used the binocular. The Captain and Ayame were the only two who was on look out.

"C'mon! You heard them! Put your back into it!" The long nose shouted at the Cook. But with the strength of the currents and of Usopp and Sanji's strength, the rudder broke off.

"Ah! The rudder!" Everyone shouted then panicked.

The Magician recovered quickly and shouted: "We have to think of something fast! We're going to hit the water gate in less than 10 seconds! Give or take!" she shouted at them, and with Luffy's quick thinking, he went overboard. Purposely. "H-hey what the Heck are you doing you idiot?!" she shouted after him, forgetting his ability.

"Gum Gum Balloon!" the Captain shouted as he turned into a large rubber balloon, preventing the Merry from hitting the water gate. But Ayame couldn't leave her post for look out, so she couldn't help the pirate. _That's right, he's a rubberman. _

Just in luck, someone saved him. "Luffy! Grab a hold!" the Swordsman shouted from the back, extending an arm for him. The young boy grabbed the helping hand.

"We're safe. Wow. Oh, my God..." the Magician whispered and sighed, as Sanji and Usopp danced in celebration. The Navigator was now relaxed and relieved. There was a loud crash beside Ayame, causing her to jump. She looked to her left. "Luffy... Are you... okay?" she asked, but it sounded really foreign coming from her mouth. She saw his head stuck on the deck like an ostrich and the ground.

"Well, My work's done." The Swordsman said and walked pass by Ayame and she sweat dropped.

"Get me out!" Luffy shouted impatiently.

"Uh. Oh. Right," She pulled on to his shoulders as hard as she can. She was no super woman with super powers and strength, so why the Hell is she helping him? Ayame pulled harder.

"WOOHOO!" Sanji and Usopp shouted together in triumph. "YEAH, YEAH! WE MADE IT!" They danced the cancan. Since it was kind of a normal thing to them when they're happy.

She finally pulled him out of the wood. "There," the Magician pulled Luffy out of the deck successfully. _What a work out.  
_

"I'm free! Thanks Ayame!" The Captain shouted and pumped both his arm up in success.

"No... problem." She said awkwardly and walked towards Zoro and the others, who were in the front deck near Merry's head.

"Yay! Now it's just a straight way to the Grand Line!" the Navigator shouted happily as the rain stopped, causing the two girls to strip off their jackets. The sun appeared just behind the fluffy clouds, it was a morning sunrise.

"Ahahaha!" Luffy laughed, "Look at the view!" He glomped Merry's head, while holding his hat as the ship went up towards the Mountain's peak. Although, they still had minutes to get to the top.

"Yeah. It's amazing," the Magician said plainly, as she stood beside the First Mate.

"WHOA! Look how high we are! We're in the clouds!" Luffy shouted, amazed just like the rest of us. Because we had entered in the clouds, and the clouds was fluffy!

This made the Magician realize how did she made it on the other side, in the East blue. She knew she was originated from some place, some where. Everything is just so fuzzy to her, she remembered seeing an old lady. Ayame, that time was 11 soon to be 12. That old woman named Yubaba was a magician who taught her a couple of tricks at first then the hag trained her for roughly 3 years. When Ayame was about 14-ish, everything was just too confusing and she ended up in Syrup Village._  
_

But she could only ponder why.

...

As Going Merry, exited the clouds below them as the continued up. "This is insane! We're not **in** the clouds, we're **above** them!" Luffy put on his childish grin and laughed once more.

"It's amazing! We've done it!" Nami smiled too. "We've reached the summit!"

"I can't believe we actually made it." Ayame turned to Zoro, who said that as he looked more ambitious and determined. She felt a bit down for some reason, she's ... glad that he had a dream - even though she hated his guts - and look at her, she doesn't have a dream. It made her wonder why she came at all, to this journey. Perhaps of seeing that old lady again, maybe give her a slap or two for pulling a magic trick or whatever she did to the Magician a few years back.

"Woohoo!" Luffy screamed as we reached the peak and all of them was suddenly on air with the Merry-Go. And since gravity exist in this world, the Merry-Go landed first back on the sea as humans, went last.

"Aaahhhh!" Everyone screamed, only that there was one excited pirate.

"Why does this happen to me after I joined?" The Magician questioned to herself, strangely calm.

"Why are you so calm?!" Usopp and Zoro yelled at her in their comical way.

"What? Aren't you a bit used to it?" She questioned yet again, but innocently.

"NO!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Hey! Stop talking like that to _Ayame~!_" He said, then he went back to his mean tone. "-You shitty idiots!" He irked.

"It's alright..." The Magician told him as they were about to land back down.

"Oh, Ayame, you are such a _sweetheart_~!" Sanji smiled and gushed, and they finally landed on the Merry on their original spots. Zoro gave him a dirty look, but the Cook didn't noticed since he was in his love struck attitude. As for her, she didn't notice because...

"He called me "sweetheart"..." The Magician whispered to herself and gaped, her eyes wide as plates. She had to admit, that was such a kind thing anyone has ever told her. Shock was written on her masked face.

"Great, now she's even lost it." The Swordsman said dryly and thought to himself. After a few seconds, the young girl recovered from the compliment and looked around her surrounding, amazed.

"Whoa!" Luffy started, as they went down the mountain like a roller coaster. He was clinging on to the Merry's head like a frog, "I can see it - the greatest sea in the world! The Grand Line! Somewhere out there, the One Piece is waiting, and we're gonna find it!" He said aloud, "Let's GO!"

...

After a few minutes, they entered back into the clouds, going down. "Woohoohoo! This is great!" Sanji shouted as the rush of air came towards them. It really does feel like a roller coaster as fresh air attacked them with it's natural sweetness with a tang of the blue ocean.

Usopp chuckled in excitement and Nami whooped and laughed.

Ayame continued grinning and love the fresh air that was rushing to her. But unfortunately, she stopped enjoying it for a moment as she noticed something weird. She heard something. As for Zoro, he made it obvious that there was something wrong and looked around. It seemed like he heard it too. So Ayame pretended that she didn't realize anything and continued enjoying the fresh air. She thought she was just hearing things. Despite the Swordsman's looks.

**Buzzing noise**

"Did you guys hear something?!" Zoro shouted at anybody. But Ayame, with a poker face, she ignored him. She thought she heard it, but refused to acknowledged it. Besides, they're up so high, they could be hearing things. But if Zoro heard it, then wouldn't that mean what the Magician heard was correct? _It sounds like a monster. Geez, what's going on with the Grand Line nowadays?  
_

"Huh, what's that?!" Nami questioned with a smile as she shouted towards the two who thought they heard something._  
_

"That groaning sound! Didn't you hear it!?" The Swordsman questioned to her, and maybe at Ayame. The girls shook her head and Ayame didn't look at his eyes. Fearing that he will know that she's lying.

Nami shook her head. "It's probably just the wind! At this speed, everything will sound distorted!" Nami told him and he didn't buy it. But the Magician did. He was still suspicious.

The First Mate turned to the other girl. "Did you really not hear anything, Demon Spawn?!" He shouted to her but at this speed, going down the mountain, no one can barely hear anything. She hated that nickname, she hated him and his cactus hair.

The Entertainer froze. For some reason, she couldn't lie to him. His presence was so daunting and to Ayame, Zoro is a very daunting specimen. She even sense him as a threat to her very being. "Um, No?" _Stupid! Why did it have to end in a question!? ... Oh, no. He's giving me that look.  
_

"Why you - You **lied** to me when you said you didn't hear it!" He shouted at her with an irk mark on his forehead and she cowards away.

"It's not my fault! I thought I was hearing things!" The Magician shouted back, defending herself.

**Buzzer noise**

"Nami! I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji yelled with the binocular in his hand, and pointed up ahead of the pirates. He was with her tangerines as the ship heads closer to the foreign sea.

"What?!" she questioned disbelievingly as she looked up at him. "That's impossible!" She denied.

"But it's right there! I can see it!" he urged their Navigator and still pointed.

Curious, the Magician turned around and look. Sanji was right, there was something in their way. _It's huge! _"... So do I." She agreed with Sanji. _And it's blue..._

"Who cares?! GO!" Luffy, carelessly shouted and grinned.

Ayame quickly turned around to Luffy, "Idiot! Think of all of us!" she yelled him with an irk mark on her head.

The boy only grinned, "Yeah - I'll think of that later!"

She face palmed. "You gorilla..."

"After we past the Twin Capes there should be nothing ahead - but ocean!" Nami continued to explain that there shouldn't be anything up ahead. But there is, and Nami couldn't believe it as she turned to look at it. They were heading faster and closer to the blockage.

"AH! IT'S A BLACK WALL!" Luffy screamed as he had a distorted look upon his face. Like he didn't like black walls. Probably he mistaken it as a black hole in space. If his brain did go that far or that he was possibly told that.

"No, it's not!" Nami shouted, but also, didn't know what is it. She was getting scared by the moment.

"Then what is it?!" Zoro yelled.

Ayame grabbed the binoculars from the Cook and peered through. She recognized that shape, but she couldn't believe it. "It's a whale? Yeah, it must be." She said seriously, answering her own question. "A gigantic one at that," she added as she turned to them and frowned.

"A-a-a whale?! What are we gonna do?!" Usopp shouted and was the first to react. Because he knows that this is dangerous. A whale that size was unbelievable.

"Should we fight?" Luffy questioned, not really caring about the whale. He was being arrogant right now. His crew could tell by his tone.

"Idiot! How are we suppose to fight a hundred ton whale?!" Nami shouted at Luffy.

"D-D-D-Do something!" Stuttered and yelled Usopp as he cling onto the main mast.

"Calm down!" The Cook shouted as everyone turned to him, "If this creature looks like a giant wall to us, we must be a speck!" he interrupted, and tried to get the crew to think before they act. They were thankful for that.

"That's right!" Nami agreed with him, "And it's highly possible that this thing isn't even aware that we're here!"

But the Swordsman didn't think of that problem, but a different one. "We'll still run right into it unless we change course!" he said in a realistic thought. Everyone agreed to that. Then he saw an exit, a wide open space. "Look! We can get by in the left! Go to port!" he shouted, forgetting about the broken rudder.

The Sniper pointed out that one problem. "The Rudder's broken!" he shouted like it was obvious.

"Do something!" Zoro went to the rudder, "Anything!" he yelled as Sanji followed as well.

"WAIT! I know! This will work! It has to!" Luffy passed by the Magician as she looked at him questioningly for a moment.

"I hope he's not doing anything reckless..." she sighed, but regained a serious attitude as she held onto Merry's neck and the railing beside his neck.

"Hey! Luffy, what are you doing?!" Ayame heard the Navigator shouted at him.

A large boom was heard from the front canon below the girls.

The only girls were forced forward and almost went overboard but thankfully, Ayame clung to the railings just in time. But Nami fell down, sprawled on her back. The Magician's knees gave away, and she sunk down on the floor. She was beyond terrified and life threatening. Again, she asked herself why she came. Ayame still clung on the railings for dear life. She looked like a nervous wreck. Just like everyone else.

But Luffy.

_Did he just...? _The pink head thought horrified.

"A CANNON!?" Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami screamed with a priceless looks upon their face.

"He didn't just do that..." The Magician trailed. As much as she wanted to overlook this, she just couldn't. One does not simply cannon ball a whale. "Did he?" Ayame questioned Nami, who happened to be behind her. But she didn't receive an answer. She didn't need one anyways. But the ship didn't stop moving until Merry Go's head came off, since it was the first to touch the gigantic whale. Merry's head landed in front of the main Cannon's room. But it helped stop the ship from crashing into the whale.

"AAHHHH!" A horrified scream was heard, the crew turned to the Captain. "HEY!" Luffy screamed, "That was my **special** seat!" he yelled angrily.

Thankfully, Ayame recovered quickly for the sake of the crew. "Special seat?! Luffy, we can fix that, let's just leave!" she begged. _I hate this world._ She thought and mentally cried.

After a very long moment of silence and being motionless, they figured out that the whale didn't feel a thing. Which they were glad for.

"That stupid idiot - Just one of these days!" The Magician muttered under her breath.

"Shut up Demon Spawn - you could have prevented that!" She glared at the Cactus. "Now let's get out of here before it's too late!" Zoro started and went to grab the oars. He gave one to Sanji and Usopp, and he had one for himself. He turned to the girl, "Hey idiot get Nami up! Don't just stand there and do nothing!"

"I was going to, Cactus!" Ayame snarled as she got up and carefully walked over to Nami. The men started rowing the ship, quickly, trying to get away from the monstrous whale.

"It's so big, that the cannon ball didn't even make it flinch!" Sanji yelled, "Or is it that his reaction is really slow?!" A question that didn't need any answer.

"Who cares?! At least we're alive!" Zoro shouted and kept on paddling.

_Just wait Cactus... When someday I get my hands on some useful magic. You'll be my punching bag. _The Magician gave him a death glare as she shook Nami, trying to get her back to reality.

The Navigator woke up and looked up, but she saw their Captain march up. He was looking directly at the whale's eyes. "Luffy...?" she questioned, horrified as she watched him have a very daunting look.

Ayame looked behind and gasped. "Oh, no...!" she whispered and mentally face palmed herself in anger, as the boy looked extremely angry at the whale, who still didn't realize them.

"You think you can break my special seat and get away with it?!"

* * *

**I know it's bad right now, but bare with me! It is still the beginning - and beginnings are usually slow. It will become better - I promise! :) **

_Reviews~_

_Nebelkatz : I re-read the chapter again and I realized I didn't put on the saved version. Thank you for pointing that out. SO I fixed it. :) Sorry for my mistake! _

*** Note for last chapter: It's fixed. But if you didn't read it yet, I'll put the changes here. In point form.**

**- Sanji was shopping, he left the bags. He noted that EVERYONE on that island looked identical. **

**- The bags moved because of an Expert Fisherman who used a fishing rod to drag the bags.**

**Welcome~**

**beautiful sun and missallsundat88! **

**You are amazingly FAB~**

**Should I make my stories longer? I feel like I should. Maybe around 5,000 - 6,000 words next time (this is about 4,700) - if you want me to! It'll get closer to the good chapters~! **

**_PM me for this!_ **

**Because I don't know what you want. I already have Chapter 14 finished and I'm still on this chapter. **

**I'm so prepared guys~**

**Stay Fabulous~**

_**~ Review ~ Rage ~ PM ~ Favorite ~ Follow ~**_


	7. What is this sorcery?

**Maybe I should have put this earlier...**

**'...' in the middle of the page = new POV.**

**'_' = New scene / Fast forward (in some cases, it might be a Flashback. It will be labeled.)**

**Sorry, if you were trying to figure that out. Because almost everyone I read stories from put this on. **

**...**

**"Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes."**

**~ Jim Carrey ~**

* * *

**Big Whale.**

"You think you can break my special seat and get away with it?!" Luffy screamed wrathfully. "Take this!" he used his Gum-gum powers to punch the whale's eye. Everyone gaped at him.

"Y-you..." Ayame trailed with a shock expression. _The eye?! That...That- _With priceless faces, everyone screamed, finishing the Magician's words. "MORON!"

The whale's pupil focused down at them. Finally realizing their presence. It knew it felt something earlier and now, that whale is looking a bit angry and in pain. Everyone screamed but for the Captain.

Looking a bit frightening, Luffy yelled: "I'm not through with you! There's a lot more with it!" He held his balled fist up, showing or indicating that he'll fight if he must. It was his favorite seat - his only seat!

Zoro and Usopp abandoned their post. "SHUT UP BEFORE YOU KILL US ALL!" They both yelled and kicked Luffy in sync. The young Captain ended up on his back, groaning in pain.

The whale groans as if it is trying to communicate with them. Nearly every one of the pirates froze, hoping that this whale would ignore them again. But because of them and their mood swings of bad luck & good luck. Today is their bad luck day. The whale made an angry monstrous sound that could be heard from the other side from Twin Capes. It shifted to put it's head on the ocean's surface. Its appearance looked pitiful. The scars on it's head ran deep. So deep that, for some reason, anyone could imagine it's pain. The gigantic creature was hurt; and the wounds seemed to be opening once more.

Ayame looked at it, she heard a story about a whale that cried tremendously in the Grand Line - well, **here**. Apparently, that story was once popular, but lost it's popularity 20 years or so. But her older brother had told her because of an old nanny they once had. Her brother's name was original, at least to Ayame it is. His name is Requiem. He must be 21 by now. It's been a few years since they last saw each other.

The water that surrounded the ship started to get sucked in the whale's open mouth. It's was intending to swallow them. The ship tilted to the left. Luffy tried to stand up properly, but he was in a comical pose of a person who cannot balance, and was hopping on one foot, slowly going to the railings.

"Please..." the Navigator whimpered to herself, "No!" she was beyond terrified. Everyone screamed was they got in between Laboon's gaped teeth, but not yet into its throat.

Ayame noticed that if Luffy wasn't going to gain his footing, he'll fall over. She frowned and debated whether or not to save him. She didn't really made a bond with any one but Usopp. Sanji, Nami and Luffy tried, but it was a bit too unwise to make more nuisance friends. After all, her first impression on these people - including Cactus Man and Usopp - was she thought that they were **idiots**. Completely out of their minds!

Anyways, she tried to balance herself to walk over to the Captain.

Although, the Captain continued to hop on one foot. The Magician couldn't reach to him in time because of the fast currents, she kept bumping into things and eventually, tripped on her own footing as she tried to the boy. He was simply too far. She didn't make it.

Everyone heard the Captain's scream and he fell off.

"Luffy!" She shouted and she extended a hand towards him. The Magician knew that it was dumb to do that just now, but she had to extend her hand to him now. She was stabled to where she is now, all he needs to do is grab her hand. He can reach this far right? It's just 18 feet away. _Use your damn powers idiot! _she thought, and bit the insides of her cheek. It would be a devastating lost if he died and they were left to die. She didn't join just to die!

The Captain had one hand placed on top of his straw hat, to keep it from flying away. He reached out for her hand, but a large hit of harsh currents made Luffy to tumble and go overboard.

_Dammit! So close...!_ Ayame thought, sprawled on the floor, she tempted to go overboard to save his life. But in the end, the both of them would both be killed. Even though she cared for other's safety, that is very seldom. She cared more of herself; she was selfish. And careful.

The Magician held her painful flesh and internal wound on her stomach (technically a little bit above; so between stomach and chest) from a week ago. It wasn't healed just yet. It was making a nasty, red circle scar below her bosoms, but it sits slightly on the right. No doubt she broke a few ribs. But the medicine her enemy gave her, it strangely healed slowly. The Magician didn't know why that saucy woman saved her life - it was odd and suspicious. Her enemy's weapon was a like a small lance, the size of a fist. It was an odd-looking weapon, most likely custom-made.

Ayame coiled in pain. Usopp saw and ran to her, "You okay?!" he questioned, helping her up with the help of the railings. "Geez -"

"LUFFY!" Nami and Sanji shouted as they realized their Captain gone and went overboard unintentionally. But fortunately, he used in Gum-Gum powers to grab onto Laboon's teeth and he started climbing the whale, shouting a lot of vulgar words and telling the creature to stop.

All of a sudden, everything went pitch black as Laboon's mouth shut closed, leaving the Captain outside. But the rumble and harsh waves thrashed and went to a sudden stop, this knocked everyone to the ground. Ayame was forced forward and trip on Usopp's foot. She fell flat on her front again.

_OW! FOR THE LOVE OF COTTON CANDY -_

Usopp fell on her, knocking her out as he accidentally hit the back of her neck. The whale closed its mouth with contempt.

* * *

**15 minutes later.**

Remarkably, the crew woke up from their black out state. Well, that was a fast recovery, but then again, they're not normal. But Ayame was left in pain, still on the floor. _The world is out to kill me... I swear_. She muttered in her mind, _I hate you Mother Nature. You are a - ... female dog._

Well, **most** of the crew are remarkable.

"Is everyone alright?" Zoro questioned as it was still dark in Laboon's throat. But somehow, there was dim lights and metal in his body. This dim light helped them with their eyesight. They couldn't tell if they were in a whale's body or a creepy labratory. The crew mates either nodded or gave him a vague answer.

"I'm not." Ayame wheezed out, as Usopp was sitting on her back.

"Good. Everyone's okay." He ignored the Demon Spawn.

She irked, "Jackass!" Ayame yelled, scaring the Sniper because of her sudden outburst underneath him. He immediately got off and planted apologies to her face. Her plan about to get Zoro's acceptance was just turning into dust. She knew she has done stuff she didn't want to do, and she doesn't want him to figure her out at all. Because if he did, he'd tell everyone. Imagining their faces that were once kind would be twisted and unwelcoming. She didn't want that!

The Magician knew she was playing a dangerous game. But she didn't know it would be life-threatening. It terrified her to think that if one day they know, it would be the end. She needed to disguise herself - just for a while. She wasn't intending to stay with the Straw Hats and have a bounty. Ayame hoped to have a plan sooner or later. Zoro can't figure out who she is - **No one** can.

She won't allow it.

Ayame thought of a dirty and sly trick - it was the most lowest thing she would ever do. But she had to, just to protect herself. To make her seem innocent - just for the time being. She slowly got up as Usopp went to look around with his device. The Magician's legs wobbled and gave in, she gave out a moan of pain. Her wound was bleeding. Okay, maybe it didn't need to be as dirty as it seems. She wanted to pretend she was in immense pain - but she was lucky, she was already feeling like a turd.

...

Zoro nearly pretended to not see her suffering. But his weakness is that he cared too much - despite the uncomfortable feeling he felt around her. He walked over to the girl. "Oi," he nudged her with his knee. "Get up and act like a man."

She gave him a death glare, and it seemed to him that she really couldn't pick herself up. "I'm not a man you stupid Cactus," she panted. Her crystal eyes dared him to say something else. But he didn't, eyes in that colour was captivating. He found it as an open window; clear and blue. It was like looking at the sky. It seemed... innocent and boundless.

He mentally shook his head. There was no way she was innocent - not even big blue baby eyes could sway this man. Zoro is a man of pride and steel. This girl that he pitied now is just **playing** innocent. He can sense that - or at least he thinks he can. But still, he had to keep his eye out. He refused to be a fool and an idiot.

"Here." The First Mate plucked her up and placed the shock girl on his right strong, muscular shoulder. She seemed to be a bit frisky and was slowly becoming a nuisance. He had a feeling this girl would be troublesome.

...

"P-put me down!" the Magician shouted as her heart raced. Not because of his closeness or his muscles - well, maybe a little, it just feels really nice. Anyways, **this** wasn't what she had in mind. She didn't want to manhandled. She has never been touched like this. Ayame has always thought to be untouchable - literately. Well, only a few exceptions here and there. But carrying her? **Manhandling **her? That was just unacceptable. Just -... no.

Ayame's heart pounded. _He's so muscular. It's almost unreal..._ She thought in amazement as she wondered what it would feel like if her hands were to touch his tan, muscular arms. After all, she wasn't too familiar with the opposite gender too well - especially some stranger's. But the way he held her was painful, especially when he jabbed her a couple times as he marched over to Nami. The Magician knew he's going to be troublesome. It scared her that she was trying to pick a fight with him. She guessed that she was taking the 'never judge a book by its cover' quote by granted. And she wished she didn't.

"What are you - put me down! And you are hurting me - OW!" Ayame yelped as she tried to persuade him from carrying her. His response was to intentionally jabbed her with his shoulder._ What's this warm feeling on my face!? That disgusting feeling of heat over my face! Even my ears are burning! Dammit! _

"Quit being so difficult." He looked over at her coolly and then looked at Nami.

_Curse you. Why do you have to say something cool?! _Ayame sneered and mentally killed him. _Stupid Cactus, _she concluded.

"Nami, check her head. I think she's out of it." He placed the injured on the railing as she sat on it. The Magician glared at him. Screw the plan; she'll just kill him in his sleep; toss him in the sea, and say it was an accident. "Wait," he paused, "she **is **out of her mind." With that he left with a grunt without thinking about her wound. He just wanted to stay away from her.

Ayame held on what's left of Merry's neck and supported her body weight, so she wouldn't fall backwards. But it was painful to use her stomach muscles to keep from falling. It's as if the Swordsman wanted to let her fall by accident. _That jerk! He probably **was** thinking of that!_

"Right," The Navigator nodded then she turned to Ayame when Zoro left to observe that new scene. "How hard did you hit your head?" She questioned the girl as she grabbed a a couple of bandages from who-knows-where. She looked at the Magician's head and it seemed to be bruised a bit.

It was a red bruise. It might turn a bit purple later on the day.

The Magician winced as Nami gently pressed on the wound. It was a bit swollen. "Does it look that bad?" She scratch the back of her neck with a sweat drop. But refused to say anything about the wound on her body. Later, she will change into a darker outfit - despite her heat stroke. It was better if she just kept things to herself.

Sanji swooned in from out of the blue. "My poor dear~! This is all my fault-" he stopped mid way of his sentence as he remembered something. "- Hold on a second..." He turned angrily at Usopp, "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! WHY I OUGHTA-" He started chasing after Usopp as they ran in circles or around the whole ship.

"I didn't stick my foot out on purpose! I fell too!" He shouted as he defended himself. "I'm injured as well!"

"I don't care!" the Cook yelled with a frying pan in his left hand and a spatula in the other. "A man should always protect a woman from harm! No matter what!"_  
_

Nami figured this wouldn't solve anything. "It's all right Sanji. Ayame is just fine." She reasoned with him as he stopped chasing the Sniper. Usopp sighed in relief as he ran to Nami and hid near her.

Ayame could only watch in silence. Earlier, she did thought they were idiots but not only that. Just to point out the obvious, they were pirates! This she knew and have always kept that in her mind. Pirates are pirates. They are sly, evil, dirty and theives. Even if they were funny, it still doesn't change the fact that they are pirates. Enemies of World Government and troublemakers!

That was stereotypical of her to think that. But in those words, there are always some truth. Like fairy tales, it's make-believe but there is some truth to it. For now, she will just masque herself like she had been trained to do. It was her forte. Pretending is what she was good at. This helped her from showing who she really was. It helped her survive after all this time.

"But..." the Cook trailed with his pan and spatula pointing downwards.

"It's okay," the Navigator assured him as she was almost finishing up putting the bandage on Ayame's head. It was a square patch that covered the entire bruise. At least the Magician didn't have to worry about looking like an unattractive zombie.

The Cook sniffed, "Nami is so nice...!" Sanji went teary-eyed on them and clinged onto Ayame's left leg. She nearly jumped from the closeness - another place that should not be touched. Not ever. It was **foreign**.

"There, done!" Nami smiled as she put away the extra bandage in her shirt without shame. The Magician flushed lightly for witnessing that. She thanked the Navigator silently.

_This is wrong. They're not supposed to be caring. _Ayame thought and bit the insides of her cheek. She was confused by their behaviour. _This must be a very well act. I can't see through their disguise. But I **know** this is a trick to make me open up - to tell them everything I know. _She looked over at Zoro, eyeing him from head to toe. He seemed normal yet abnormal. _It's... just no way! But if they're pretending, I can play that too. _She mentally frowned, but it twisted upside down slowly. _I'm very good at that as well._

"No problem!" Nami smiled, bringing the Magician back to reality. She went to a serious yet caring tone. "But be careful, ya hear?" she told Ayame seriously like she a troublesome child.

"I will."

* * *

**5 minutes later.**

"What is this sorcery?" The Magician questioned as she looked around her surroundings. Everything was like the outside world. Blue skies, seagulls and a tiny island in front of the crew. But there wasn't any other islands in sight.

"You're one to talk!" Usopp slapped her upper arm and the girl jumped from the impact.

Ayame looked at him, confused. "What do you mean -... oh," She realized that she was a magician. She would know, they assume, but she doesn't. "Oh, right." She rubbed the back of her neck_. _

"Man, you're slow..." he mumbled. "Well?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well then..." Nami started, "What do you think?" she questioned as she thought she was dreaming.

"I don't know what to think." Zoro shrugged and scowled.

"Is this even real?" Sanji questioned, disbelievingly. "Because I know what I saw and what I felt. Even Ayame is proof." He meant that bruise on her head. "And unless I'm imagining, we were swallowed by the whale."

"Is this a dream?" the Sniper questioned.

"Yeah," Zoro said. "I guess I could say it's a fair guess." He almost believed that this is a dream. Almost. But something wasn't right about the clouds and air. It smelled a bit acidic.

"Then what's with the Island and the house?" He asked again.

"A prank?" the Magician suggested. "Maybe an illusion?" Then a giant squid pops up from the water. Or acid if they are in a stomach of a whale. "That's strange." Ayame started as she looked at the squid. _Am I dreaming this? _"That looks like a-... oh." Realization hits her once again.

"A GREAT KING SQUID!" Nami and Usopp screamed as the ran farther away from the squid. Both Sanji and Zoro got ready as the Magician stayed back_. _But before the 2 men got to fight it, 3 harpoons pierced itself in the squid's body. It died slowly as its tentacles flailed slowing to a stop.

"Looks like someone's home." Zoro muttered as his half-sheathed katana slid back in.

"Let's hope it's a person," the Cook muttered as well as both of the men still took their precautions.

"I've had it. Let's go," pouted the Navigator as she looked at the others and sobbed.

They heard the door creaking and turned around to see a shadowed figure come up from the house. He was big.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" Usopp shouted as he immediately got on his feet. "We should fire our cannons there!" He pointed at the shadowed figure and the island, "NOW!"

"Let's hold on for a second. Someone's coming out." Sanji informed the crew. The **thing** was dragging the squid to his island. The harpoons were roped and the mysterious fellow walked out.

Every one of them looked at the man oddly yet taken back. He had a head, two arms and legs, a body, a face but he looked more like a flower than a man.

"It's a..." Sanji trailed as he stared at the old guy like the rest of them.

"Flower." Zoro said flatly as the flower man had a flowery background to himself. Zoro's arms are crossed together as he held a brooding expression.

"I think a pansy is more like it." Ayame suggested to them as she looked at the man.

"Shut it Demon Spawn. Nobody asked your opinion." He glared at her as she returned that feeling. But she said nothing.

"No..." Sanji trailed as he figured out what the man is. "It's a person" he told the pirates, but sounded unsure_._

"Are you sure?" Usopp questioned Sanji as they all stood in their places.

"Maybe it's one of those half human, half flower people." Ayame suggested and they gave her odd looks. "Hey, there is such thing you know! This is the Grand line!" she tried to reason with them, but they continued with their looks. The Magician came up with a conclusion; don't open your mouth.

"But have you ever seen one?" Inquired Usopp as he gave her one of those suspicious looks that said 'is she lying?'

"Well, no..." She trailed, "But my brother told me."

"And when was this told?" He gave her a bored expression.

"When I was fiv-" Ayame paused. "You know what?" she realized that if she said she was 5, they wouldn't believe her. "Ignore what I just said!" the Magician, already forgetting about the Flower tribe. The strange silence, the looks they were giving her.

"How can we ignore that?" Zoro looked at her with a piercing expression.

"Hm? What were you talking about Cactus?" She questioned him as the pirates sweat dropped at her.

"This woman..." The muscled and tan man grumbled as he looked away from her. "Stupid Demon Spawn."

The Cook shook his head, returning back to the situation at hand. "The question is: Why? Was he trying to save us or was he just fishing?" Sanji told them, ignoring Zoro and Ayame for the time being. He didn't treat her too kindly like Nami, mainly because he was into a women's looks more than personality. If only he could see the Magician's face.

"That's true... the pansy-man looks a bit suspicious if you ask me." The Magician frowned.

The pansy man walked toward his beach chair and they expect him to do something dangerous to the pirate as he stared at the crew cautiously and demandingly. He seemed protective and aware.

"Why is he staring at us like that?" Ayame whispered to them. The strange man sat down very casually and grabbed a newspaper and begun to read it. A page turned then another. And another.

The pirates all gaped at him as he did so. They never expected him to do such a thing. They were pirates inside God knows where, and he's just acting like it's his everyday thing. He killed a sea king, stared at the Straw Hat Pirates cautiously, then he sat down and read his newspaper casually? How can one do that?

Ayame boiled in anger. They expected some shouting and the 'Get off mah lawn!' or in this case, 'Get off mah acids ya damn pirates! Get! Get!'. But alas, it didn't happen, much to the Magician's dispointment. _Good thing there's no table in front of me! I'd flip it over and hopefully it'll hit his flowery head! This old guy!_

"YOU GONNA SAY ANYTHING?!" Yelled a very enraged Sanji as he too, couldn't believe this is happening.

The pansy man looked at them, and Usopp frozed, his danger senses are tingling. The man had a daunting look across his withering face.

"Hey, y-you wanna fight?! We'll fight-" the Sniper shouted as Zoro sweat dropped. He knew the Sniper. He wouldn't do it. "WE'VE GOT CANNONS BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!" Usopp continued with his legs shaking.

This caught the pansy guy's attention, and everything started moving place to place. Like a dramatic scene pictures. It's like some kind of running gag or something. Possibly a dramatic silent moment, one could say.

"You try it and someone's going to die." He had a threatening look on his face.

"Is he serious? I have to-" Ayame went to leave.

"Get out of my way." Zoro's voice made it through her ears. It was harsh and coarse.

"I was going to!" She shouted at him and added, "Cactus." The Magician moved away.

"Oh, yeah?" The Cook dared, "And who's that?"

"Me, of course." The strange man answered like it was no problem.

"YOU-" Zoro interrupted Sanji's yell.

"Calm down. Don't let him get to you," He said and crossed his arms. He turned to the pansy man and questioned: "Why is that old man? And where are we?"

The man just grunted, "Why should I answer a stranger's question when I don't know his name. Don't you have any manners at all?"

The Swordsman was taken back. "Okay... then I'll go first. My name is-" The old guy cut the him off.

"If you must know. My name is Krocus and I'm the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Capes." he continued, "I'm 71 and a half years old. Gemini." Krocus answered with the newspaper laying down on his lap. Ayame smirked, she liked the old man's attitude._  
_

"I'll kill him! I swear!" Zoro shouted to his crew mates with his hand on one of his katanas, threatening to use it.

"Calm down!" the Cook told Zoro and restrained him. "He's just getting to you."

"You like to know where we are?" Krocus got back to Zoro's questions. "But your behaviour gives me to disincline to accommodate curiosity. Except you are trespassing on my **private** resort. Besides, I think it's pretty obvious seeing how you were **eaten**."

"So, you're saying we were swallowed by the whale? But since when does whales have clouds in it?!" Usopp shouted, he did have a point. But after Ayame looked around, she realized something. Nothing in the sky wasn't moving. It was all sessile.

Krocus stayed silent in a dramatic way. "Yes," he finally said.

"Wait a minute, if we've been eaten. What's going to happen to us?! I don't want to be digested!" Nami shouted in fear as she cowards behind Zoro and Sanji along with Usopp.

Krocus did his weird dramatic silence once more.

"STOP DOING THAT!" The crew all shouted irritatedly. They were all on edge by being stuck in a gastric acid stomach with no exit to get out from.

"What's wrong? Haven't you ever heard of a running gag?" He questioned them, genuinely shock.

"THAT WAS A GAG?!" They all shouted at him again with a thousand of irk marks surrounding them - heck, even Merry had 3 irk marks on his head, as Krocus looked at the pirates calmly.

"The exit is right over there." Krocus pointed to the other gate, the one they haven't been through yet. They looked at the bolted, metal doors. It was nearly similar to the one they have passed through.

"WE CAN GET OUT?!" The crew shouted at the old man.

* * *

**I know, I know. I've been gone for quite a while - especially my 'You Can't Run Away From Yourself' story. But I didn't realize I was too busy. But I'm NOT going to be in hiatus! **

**However, I just wanted to post this up cause somewhere in Summer Vacation, I'll be in Summer School (because I'm a dork), Volunteer experience for a week, and I'm going to Seattle for a couple days. By that time, I may be on Hiatus. A girl gotta do her shopping, ya know? Besides, it will be my first time going to the USA. The first thing I'll buy is a onesie - a really cute one! If I could find one...**

**Anyways, that was just a heads up! So, if you figure out I'm missing for more than a week. Because:**

**a) Hiatus**

**b) writing/editing chapters**

**c) Reading other Author's work  
**

**d) Or, that I probably crying in a corner (because you fabulous creatures have favorited, followed and reviewed. Yeah, I'm very emotional. Everyone calls me a crybaby - psh! I am not!)**

**I might post another chapter up. I have plenty of free time. But I'll be busy with my YCRAFY story. So... no promises~ **

**-smiley face- -smiley face-**

_Reviews~_

_fabulous guest : You're name has made my heart complete -inserts so many haerts- Thank you for your support!  
_

_mint aeros : She will have a dream~ Just you wait Precious, just you wait~_

_Nebelkatz : I fixed it~ Thank you for telling me that. I didn't know I was missing a chunk of work. Turned out I didn't save properly when I copied and paste my work from OpenOffice. Sorry for the inconvience!_

_Purple Dragon Ranger : -puts on Patrick Star meme open mouth- Oh, shitake mushrooms.  
_

_Okay thanking everyone~_

_Random Punk, Angelheat, vampireprinceofempire, beautiful sun, missallsunday 88, Purple Dragon Ranger, Faeyne Dreamwalker, KEEler 21, khr 216, Nebelkatz, hesmus, and nikkichu 112!_

_Thank you! You are all so Fabulous and you all complete me~ Lol._

**Stay Fabulous~**

_**~ Review ~ Rage ~ PM ~ Favorite ~ Follow ~**_


	8. Feelings mutual

**"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."**

**~ Oscar Wilde ~**

* * *

**Whale's stomach. Ayame.**

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, and thought hard. "Ok. Even if I believe a whale's body can have an exit door, nothing's there but skies!" The navigator complained, seeing the door in the middle of nowhere. "I don't know if it's an illusion or something! This place doesn't make any sense!"

"Actually, if you look closely, that is a real door but as for the scenery..." Ayame looked, making sure that it was what she thinks it was. "It's paint - Nothing's moving. Even his signature on it. It's right underneath the seagull's left wing," she told them dully and slightly irritated. She fell for the realistic painting until she saw the seagulls. After saying what she had to say, she turned to Krocus with her piercing eyes. "Nice painting by the way. It fooled me."

Krocus acknowledge her compliment, but gave her an old man stink eye. She knew that he was suspicious of her, but made no comment. Being who she was, made her very observant of people. She knew what people felt towards her - at least, she knew if someone despised her or liked her or even felt mutual towards her. It was because of eye contact. One can always figure out a person's feeling by holding a simple but searching stare. And that wretched man was _very_ cautious of her. Who would blame him anyways? It was within his right.

"It's a painting!?" The pirates shouted again, but this time, it was mostly at the Magician.

"She's right! The seagulls aren't even moving!" Usopp said as he looked around with big eyes, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Call it a doctor's playful mind." The old guy shrugged, but never smiled. _What's wrong with that guy? _the magician eyed him, taking in his flower-y appearance. It also appeared that something was bothering him, but that was just a guess. _And what the Hell is he...?_

"You're not making any sense, you crazy old fool!" Usopp regain his posture and shouted angrily and irritably at the pansy man.

"Easy there. Don't let him get to you." Zoro told him. The magician frowned. First, he was going easy on the man, then he got angry, and then he's going easy again. Talk about **another** running gag. "Nami, if that is an exit, then we need to get to it." He told her and she agreed, but before they could move, everything shook violently. The girls held onto the railings before they could fall as the guys kept a steady footing. Except for the sniper, who fell on his front.

"Ah, great! What now?!" Sanji questioned, still irritated as everyone took hold onto something.

"Look!" Nami pointed at the 'island', eying it. "That's no island, it's some kind of ship! It's made out of iron!" she shouted.

"Iron? What kind of ship is built out of iron?" Ayame looked at that iron and saw a familiar crest embedded in the metal. It was the same crest from her home town. The magician ignored it for the time being as she guessed what the metals were use in the iron. All she could think of was stainless steel and Hastelloy. But knowing a couple of things from the Blacksmith in Syrup Village, it must be Hastelloy B. A metal that is very corrosive resistant.

"What's wrong with you?" the magician heard Zoro questioned her. She nearly jumped, but kept a nice footing on the ground.

She looked at him, trying to think of something. But she couldn't lie, there was something about Zoro that she couldn't do it. "That iron is the best iron in the world!" Ayame yelled at him and he looked at her oddly. It seemed out of character. _Yeah, nice job Ayame - you stupid fool. You don't just blurt things out like that! Think before you say things!_

"Yeah, so?" He questioned, apparently, was not amused.

The magician looked at him, irritated and angered. But thankfully, she didn't have to explain why. "You shameless jerk," she glared at him, and decided to tell him. "You don't find these metals in the Grand Line! They're only from the New World!" _I think. _"I've always wanted to get my hands on those! The are resistant to acid!" _  
_

He looked at her, differently. "Yeah, whatever you say." He told her and turned his back towards her and muttered, "Crazy cotton bud."

"I heard that!" Ayame turned around to look at his back as she punched his face. She stumbled after that, and _gracefully _fell on her front.

"Gwah!" he yelled, surprised as he stumbled as well. But she wasn't as strong as he thought. It didn't match with Nami's furious punch. "That hurt, you stu-"

"Well it should!" she countered and snorted, crawling to the railings. She was barely hanging on to it.

"You stupid cotton ball!"

"Excuse me, Moss head!?"

"You're excused, Demon Spawn!"

"YOU SON OF A PRICKLY CACTUS!"

...

**Usopp.**

_Man... They're fighting again? What's wrong with those two?_ He thought with a sweat drop, watching the magician and swordsman bicker. The girl tried to land a punch on his face, but the swordsman skillfully dodged. The sniper turned to Nami, getting back to her investigation, ignoring the two crew mates.

Ignoring the two pirates bicker as well, Nami continued talking. "We need to get out of here - Fast!" she ordered, "This is gastric acid - it will slowly devour this ship!" The ship and everything in the stomach continued to thrash.

"Yeah, of course!" the sniper added, knowing that stomach acids are strong against most metals. Those that are corrosive or acid resistant are difficult to find. Usopp sighed, then something occurred in his mind. "Hey! What's with this freaky whale?! Answer me, you old man!" he demanded as he glared at him.

"He's very angry..!" Krocus exclaimed to himself, "These after shocks results him on hitting his head against the Red Line." He answered in a blank and distant tone.

"What?!" Both Zoro and Sanji yelled in the background, was it normal to hear that a crazy man is giving drugs to a whale? Definitely not.

"That explains it - why he had such deep scars on his forehead. Not to mention all those strange howling!" Nami shared her investigation with the crew. Her looks twisted with accusation as her body tensed up.

...

**Ayame.**

"Why's he doing it?" Usopp questioned about the whale's condition.

"It's because he's suffering," the navigator answered with pity in her voice, remembering her history with a certain shichibukai. She looked disturbed and disheartened.

_How would she know that? _Ayame thought, a bit on the pessimist side. The magician lightly scoffed, careful not to let the other female hear. _All this drama. _She pursed her lips and carefully forced herself to shut up. It was better if she said nothing and let things happen on its own. She will let fate take the wheel. She crossed her arms together, without the mask, the crew would be graced with a sour look. This magician is simply unappreciated with the situation and regretted leaving with the pirates.

Usopp slowly got the idea and nodded. "It's all starting to make sense." He paused, he was lying, he didn't actually knew what was going on. The sniper looked at the strange man. "So," he trailed, still a bit confused. "What's the geezer up to again?"

"More than likely he's trying to kill the whale inside out." Nami accused as she glared at Krocus.

"What a despicable way to kill something." Usopp sided with Nami's point of view as Ayame remained stoic and careless.

_As much as I care for the whale, I still don't like the idea of staying inside its stomach._ She thought to herself, but didn't bother to say anything just yet. _I'm bored, I thought this voyage of some sort would be fun. But I guess I'll just end up with a watery grave. Or should I say, _**acidic**_ grave. Ha ha, ha ha... ha._

"Okay, we solved the mystery of the whale. Now, how about we find a way to get out of his belly before he digest us." Zoro ordered, taking his lead as the first mate.

"We have no right to judge the old man nor do we have to save the whale. What we need to do is focus on how do we get the Hell out of here." Sanji, too, was in the right state of mind.

"I agree as well." Ayame said, a bit too coldly. She nearly forgot that she was playing the "innocent". Because Zoro shot her a curious look, so she added, rather quickly: "This simply isn't the time to be pitying the whale." She said lightly, looking down, avoiding the swordsman's intense gaze. _Damn, that guy is like an animal. A tiger or something! Watching me like a prey! I got to play my cards carefully._

The whale bashed itself into the rocks, causing everything in his stomach to move rapidly with big waves thrashing around. "Gah! We can never escape if the waves are going like this. How can we escape if we can't even move properly?!" Usopp questioned hysterically as he clinged on the mast.

"Our only choice is to paddle. Take the oars!" Zoro ordered once more, as the men went to grab the items.

Nami was directing orders. "Whatever it takes, we have to find Luffy right away!" she shouted from the main deck.

"I know he's outside! I caught a glimpse of him climbing on the whale's mouth." Zoro answered her as Ayame's focus was on Krocus. They shared a stare down to each other, trying to figure out their intentions. _What a daunting man._

"What in the world is that man doing?" the magician questioned from out of the blue, when she saw Krocus jumped in the acid after he broke eye contact with her.

The swordsman looked and gaped, "Is he insane?" he rhetorically asked, "The acid will eat him alive." He trailed with a shock and confused look.

A couple minutes later, Krocus popped up from the gastric acid, nothing looked unusual and his skin was still intact. He started climbing up the ladder.

Usopp was the first to see him. "Guys! Krocus just re-surfaced!" he shouted, watching.

"Look, forget about the old guy. Our focus should be finding a way to open those doors." Zoro said, trying to get Usopp's mind to stop wandering around and stay on focus.

"Maybe he's going to open them. Since he's already in front of the entrance..." Ayame answered apathetically, as Sanji and Zoro got the oars ready.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe he will." Usopp agreed and nodded, thinking deeply.

"I wouldn't count on it." Zoro muttered, "She's a demon spawn if you have forgotten." She heard him and frowned deeply behind her masked face.

Suddenly, the small door beside the large one crashed open with a few intruders coming in, with only one familiar person out of the 3.

They all screamed, flying in the air as Krocus left, heading in the dark, unknown tunnel. But not before he gave the strangers an evil look. Turned out that he didn't open the doors like Ayame had hoped. She could feel Zoro looking down on her.

The magician spotted Luffy before anyone else, he was with the two strangers. She stood up from where she was sitting and went to the railings, just in case she was seeing things. But she wasn't, "What the Hell is he doing?" she questioned herself, curious about his survival. _I thought Devil Fruit users can't swim - but how the Hell did he get in here?! _

"Luffy?" the swordsman questioned, not believing what he saw. Heck, everyone else was too. Just how the Hell did he get inside of the whale?

"Ayame! Is everyone okay?" Luffy shouted to her, shocking her awake, as the others gaped at him. _He's... asking my opinion? What kind of captain trusts a-a- well, _me_? _Something in her heart pulled. _He trusts me...?_

"Everyone's... fine," she trailed, still curious and shock.

"So, um, I can use a hand...!" He said nervously and that he had nothing else to say while he was still in mid-air. Then all three of them went down to the gastric acid.

Knowing that Ayame wasn't seeing things anymore, she sighed. "Anyone wants to volunteer?" They just looked at her like a fool. She was, of course, because she'll be jumping in if no one wanted to. Admittedly, she was curious about Luffy's nature. So, she'll save him and learn about his nature and what made him - well, _him_. "All right then, I'll go." The magician uttered as she began to take off her boots. _Great. Jumping in gastric acid - why don't you just add a bungalow party too? Heck, let's add freaking marines here and we'll have a _swell_ party! _She thought bitterly. But her curiosity prevailed and won her mind as well as heart.

"What!?" Luffy's crew mates shouted at her like she was crazy.

"You heard me." She huffed with obvious dislike on jumping in the liquid as she took off her beige sweater and put it on the wooden railing. She was left with a light tank top and pants.

"I'm coming along Demon Spawn," Zoro stepped in with a brave and stoic look.

She made a frustrated noise - to which nearly sounded like a dying elephant seal. The magician composed herself before she spoke. "Usopp, take care of my weapons. Please." She whispered, handing him the weapons.

"How about me~? What can Sanji do Ayame~?" the cook swooned in front of her, startling the magician with the close contact. She was all out of words for him as she stared.

_How can he _**want** _to do work? _the magician thought. Grinning, Nami came up after witnessing the speechless girl and whispered to her ear: "Simple, you're a girl. You can violate his rights anytime!" Ayame looked at the grinning navigator and sighed. There was simply no way that she would violate any rights from Sanji. It sounded too ominous. "I don't know...? Just stand here and look pretty-"

Nami interrupted with a slight eye roll and a guffaw, "You can get her some towels."

"Or... that."

"Okay~!" Sanji skipped around to go get some towels as he sang his song about towels on the way there.

"Thanks... I guess." Ayame scratched her temple. _People do say "thank you" often right? Why can't we just bow and say nothing? _

"No problem. Now go get Luffy... there's something I need to teach him..." she said darkly, that the magician could see a dark aura surrounding her animatedly.

"What a dark ominous aura..." she tied up her hair to a messy bun with a few strands sticking here and there. Then she jumped over the railings with Zoro following behind her and quickly swam to the captain's aid.

* * *

**A moment later. Nami.  
**

"I don't claim to speak whale, but it seems to have calm down a bit." She stated, when the whale stopped bashing its head on the Red Line. It was calm for the time being.

Sanji came in and saw the drenched magician. "Oh, Ayame~ You look stunning in those wet clothes~" He had a heart in his eye. "Here, let me-"

_Wet clothes? What the Heck is Sanji up to now - _The navigator gaped, _That pervert!_

The magician looked at him, oddly. "What are you on-?" she was cut off by Nami as she shielded her.

She shrieked, her eyes were huge as her face flared. "AVERT YOUR EYES SANJI! YOU PERVERT!" she screamed at him.

"Wha-?" the magician looked dumbfounded by her actions.

"Your shirt! It's kind of showing your ... you know..." the navigator whispered after she kicked Sanji to who-knows-where and threatened Usopp not to turn.

Ayame looked down and gasped deeply, "HOLY SHIT BALLS!" Her dark coloured bra could be seen through her tank top - that was drenched in a tinted green acid.

Nami grabbed the towel and quickly ran over to the girl before the swordsman came up from the ladder. She handed her the towel. The magician stared at her, trying to decode her intentions. "Here," she also handed her the boots. "Go get cleaned up!"

"Thank... you, Nami." She muttered with a slight nod and slowly left to the washroom.

"You're welcome!" the navigator smiled with kindness.

...

**Roronoa Zoro.**

The swordsman was already climbing up the nets with the two strangers on each of his shoulder. "Oi, Sanji help me get them up." He ordered, the cook didn't mind when he saw the girl.

"Oh, wow~! A pretty girl on board~!" He smiled, it could make any girl's hair stand by looking at his smile.

"Oh, brother." Usopp muttered, holding the weapons of both Zoro and Ayame's. _Speaking of which, where the Hell is that Demon Spawn? Did she fall off? Ah, if the acid is ate her alive - I don't care. _He grumbled and scoffed when he heard the shower going in the washroom as it slowly faded to silence. _Dammit... she's still here._

"Hey, Luffy...! Luffy, wake up!" the navigator shouted at the captain and stepped on his stomach. A vast amount of water sprouted like a fountain.

The boy coughed out the acidic liquid and gasped for air with greed. "I'm alive!" He shot up with large eyes.

"Well, of course you're alive! Ayame went in to get you! Idiot!" Nami growled fiercely. "You owe her!" she pointed accusingly as the she-devil herself walked out of the doors. She stayed there, watching everyone curiously, wondering what was going on. But it was all too superstitious to the swordsman. Her, standing there in the shadows. Ayame caught his glare at her as they held a long, intensive stare-down. She scoffed and crossed her arms together, looking away.

_That's right woman. I'm the dominant one here. _

"How?" the captain questioned. How else could he pay up?

A sly smirk appeared on her face, "By paying her a 5,000 Beli." Nami smiled evilly. "Heh, heh, heh!"

The Magician eyed the captain's lean form, "But why should he do that, Nami?" she questioned. "I don't believe he has anything to give me other than be a pain in my a-"

"Oh, shush! It's because he owes us for everything! The whale, the ship and being inside the whale's belly!" she puffed her cheeks out.

"She's got a point," the others said in a dull tone.

"Alright then-" Ayame immediately paused, and walked over to them, gathering them away from the captain for a moment. Zoro had no choice but to listen to what she had to say. From up close, her fragrance smelled like watermelon or fruit punch - maybe both. "Does he even have money?" she questioned quietly as she inched more over to them, so Luffy wouldn't hear.

They paused, they couldn't blame the magician - after all, she was a new addition to the crew. They had forgotten about Luffy being penniless. Only Nami held the money and she was the only one to distribute it.

"Tch. That Demon Spawn has a point."

Ayame irked at that nickname, "Shut up!" she sneered at him as he ignored her.

The navigator gritted her teeth, there wasn't any way for the captain to repay for what he has done. He dragged them in dangerous adventures, made them become a pirate, and living with nearly empty pockets. And still, he had nothing to repay them - to the navigator in particular!

"Luffy, I'll give you a warning this time. But _just_ this time. So, you _better_ save up!" Nami huffed and warned, fully knowing that she held the money.

"Uh, okay." Luffy answered, confused. The two strangers on board woke up and saw the pirates with disdain.

Acknowledging their conscious, Zoro turned to glare at them. "We saved your lives for the time being. But you better talk - and make it quick."

"Ugh. Mr. 9, these people are _pirates_," the female whispered in an English accent to the man who she declares as 'Mr.9'. But their whispers could be easily heard.

"Yes, that is _painfully_ obvious, Miss Wednesday." Mr. 9 cringed and looked at them with cautious minds. "But if we speak to their _humanity_ and _compassion_, they should understand us. Maybe-" His posh voice was caught off with a wrathful one.

"You parasites are still here?!" Krocus had returned, after, what the pirates think - the drug to calm the whale down. "Didn't I tell you-"

"Wait - hold on!" Ayame shouted, causing everyone to look at her. She seemed angry judging by her slightly arched eyebrows. "Just how the Hell did you get in here?!" she asked the strangers but they have chosen not to utter a word.

Luffy grinned, "That's simple!" he proclaimed. "There's a door on top of the whale! Duh, stupid!"

"God, I hate you all." The magician mumbled, despising everything nickname she was given. She rubbed her forehead and then pinched her nose bridge.

"Feelings mutual," the swordsman grumbled towards her.

* * *

**A/N: Heh heh heh heh. Sorry it's late, but school's finally out! I have about 2 weeks and then I'm taking summer school - BOOO, more studying!  
**

**But I'm making the time to do at least a couple more and post it up! Since I have been neglecting my poor stories. **

_Reviews~_

_vampireprincessofempire : He he! I know~ But I find it cute in a weird way~_

_Purple Dragon Ranger: YESH! I've been spared! -Happy dances and fist pumps-_

**Welcome~**

**smileysparklea, JackthRabbit, and MistGirl 1423!**

**Stay Fabulous~!**

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	9. Scars

**"The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, **

**and should therefore be treated with great caution."**

**~ Dumbledore, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone_, J.K. Rowling ~**

* * *

**Krocus.**

"God, I hate you all." The masked magician pinched her nose bridged. For some odd reason, he didn't trust her too much. There was something ominous about that girl, he just knew there was something about her. Krocus did not want to find out.

"Feelings mutual," the swordsman uttered towards her.

When the old man came back, he saw the two knaves that were pestering him for days. "You pests are still here?!" He boomed, nearly startling everyone below him. "For the last time, as long as I draw breath, you can never lay a harmful finger on Laboon!"

The two strangers with the large bazookas in their hands, laughed. The female, known as Miss Wednesday, had vivacious sky blue hair and wore a light green trench coat with fur. "You can't persuade us into changing our minds."

"Yes, we won't leave empty handed! We need this whale to feed our island!" He continued, "And you know what?! We're about to shoot a whole new blow hole! Fire, baby!"

"Roger!" Miss Wednesday replied with her English accent, aiming their weapons with their pinkies up, and they pulled the trigger in a unison.

Krocus immediately dispatched himself towards the lethal impact, taking the blow for the whale.

...

**Ayame.**

Both of the attackers started laughing hysterically in a posh way. Their laughter grew louder and longer, but Luffy wasn't going to stand there. He punched their heads together, he took it upon himself to stop their laughter.

"Um," Usopp started, "What was that for?"

"I just...felt like it!" Luffy reasoned with gritted teeth, if that was called reasoning.

Ayame looked over to the ship and spotted Krocus, "You know you'll get eaten by acid if you don't get out right?" she shouted over to him. She knew that for some apparent reason, he was on to her. Ayame turned to Zoro and pushed him off.

"O-oi!" he shouted, falling in the acid. Once he was up, he glared at her but she interrupted him.

"Go save that old guy Zoro!" she yelled to him. "And hurry it up too!" _Plus, I don't want to be near the both of them. What is it with me? Do I look malicious? No, I made sure I didn't look like a thug! I have to find out why! _She paused, _Maybe it's the mask? Nah. Can't be..._

"Stupid woman..." he muttered as he swam to Krocus.

"I heard that Cactus! Don't think I didn't!"

...

**Krocus.**

The old man sat down on his chair as the pirates tied the two strangers up, but he noted that it was poorly done. It was peaceful for now. This boy, Luffy, questioned the whale's history. Krocus sighed, deciding it would be better to tell them rather than have them think he was a whale murderer. He went on about a massive amount of musician-pirates sailing to go the New World. But during those pirates' travel, a young whale followed them from the East Blue.

The whale's name was Laboon. Krocus remembered the day they have abandoned the young whale, he knew that it was for the whale's safety. Anything could happen in the sea that lies ahead. "It's been 50 years since those pirate left, 50 years... and I still took care of this stubborn whale." The old man uttered with melancholy, but Usopp interrupted._  
_

"50 years?!" he repeated with his mouth open wide. "That's how long this whale has been waiting?!"

"Yes."

"I knew it!" Ayame burst out with a triumphant smirk.

Zoro looked at her oddly, "Knew what exactly?" as he crossed his arms together, uttering those words out.

She smirked to him, "Well, this time, my brother told me a story-"

"Here we go again..." Usopp muttered as he rolled his eyes, and she punched him on the head. A comical bump grew as he held it in pain.

"Don't interrupt me!" Ayame scolded viciously, "Anyways, my brother told me a story about Laboon and his crew. He said that a few could be alive. Because he saw the ship wandering around near the Red Line, with a familiar flag." She told them happily, and they had blank stares. But for Sanji, who yelled: "She is so adorable!"

"And when was this told?" Zoro, Nami and Usopp questioned blankly as Ayame irked at them. _Ayame, what the Hell happened to 'Don't open your mouth'?! Of course they won't listen! _

"Screw you guys!" she shouted as Luffy laughed, "At least Sanji believes me." Ayame muttered as she turned to look at him and sweat dropped as he pranced around, yelling: "How adorable, she thinks I believe her!"

Ayame gaped at him as Krocus started leading them to the canals. "All of you guys are jerks..." she sulked and Nami patted her shoulder.

"Well... look at the bright side, we're finally getting out of the whale's belly." Nami said trying to cheer her up, but Ayame only continued to sulk as a response. Krocus opened the bolted iron doors, and the soft breeze of the sea filled into the noses of the pirates.

Once they were out, Luffy was the first to shout. "THE SKY!" he screamed and laughed.

* * *

**Outside. Ayame.**

"50 years, huh? Can you believe that?!" Usopp shouted, "I can't believe his friends would leave him like that!"

"Idiot." Sanji insulted, "It's the _Grand Line_. It's obvious that his friends are dead," he muttered and took a long drag from his cigarette. "They won't be back," he whispered pitying the creature.

Nami nodded solemnly, "Sad to say, but that's probably true."

Usopp frowned, "Gah! Why'd you guys have to be pessimistic?" he questioned, "Come on! Have some sympathy! I thought it was very touching! I mean, a whale waiting for his friends - that's a true bond!" he turned to Krocus, "Right old man?"

"Indeed." He closed his eyes, "But the lesson here, is that reality is cruel." He looked over to Ayame, eying her as she looked away. She didn't feel safe. What did he know? "They have have died or abandoned their quest."

"I guess those guys only cared about saving their own asses than keeping a promise to their friend." Sanji muttered with slight irritation.

Usopp jumped in, "That's just cruel! Who would do that to such a loyal creature?!" he continued, "Look at him! He's just so pitiful!"

"Don't pity him." Zoro uttered, "You'll only break his pride."

Nami ignored the swordsman, "Well if you knew about that, why didn't you tell Laboon?" she questioned the elderly.

"I did," he sighed, "Down to the last miserable words... but he refused to listen." Krocus looked at the whale, he was relaxed. "That was the day he started howling and a week after that, he bashed his head on the Red Line. He thought that if he could eliminate this wall, he could clear a path for his friends."

Ayame mentally scoffed at the idea of friendship. It seemed too troublesome and dramatic. But she did feel what she could not explain. It was simple. Nobody can shut their hearts when they refused to feel.

"Because if he thinks that his friends are dead in their watery graves, it'll be over. His life would be meaningless," Krocus frowned deeply.

"Tragedy," Sanji commented, "Not only did they let this whale believe they'll come back, but they left him in your care. Why did you take it upon yourself to do this job?"

"The scars on his head are deep, boy. But the scars in his heart are even deeper, and I am the only one who can tend him. I am also the only person he has," he continued, "It is a strange friendship. But I do not want Laboon to die, not like this." He shook his head as he shuts his eyes.

The crew heard something break behind them. They glance over to look, Luffy broke the ship's mast and left running towards the whale.

"What the Hell's he up to?" Sanji questioned with annoyance. Something told everyone that they did not want to know.

"You have to watch him every second," Zoro stated with a brooding look then he turned to the magician.

"What?"

"Weren't you supposed to watch him?" He asked her as he crossed his arms together. His eye lids lowering to mid way.

"Who made me agree to that commitment?" Ayame huffed, "It's Usopp's turn to watch over him anyways."

He sighed in an anguish way. "It's Monday - it's your turn... Baka."

"'Baka'?! You name-calling me in a language I don't know now?!" she shrieked. "It better mean something nice or-"

"It means 'Stupid'." Zoro smirked with an ego, that enraged the girl.

_One of these days... Just one of these days, I'll make you wear a... a peasant outfit! And I'll make you become my slave! Bwa ha ha ha!_ Ayame laughed, but soon realized that she laughed out loud when she saw his confused face. She glared at him, "Mark my words Cactus... Mark my words."

"What words...?" he muttered staring at her as she walked away. "Tch, Baka." He turned and watched the captain and sighed.

"GUM GUM..." Luffy yelled, "FLOWER ARRANGEMENT!" This caused everyone to frown at him as he placed the mast on Laboon's flesh wound. It looked like he made Laboon his territory with the Straw Hat flag on the mast.

Ayame shivered at the sight, broken wood on a flesh wound. It was like a splinter making its way underneath a fingernail. If she could turn any paler, she would.

"Think he's aware that that's our mast?" Zoro questioned rhetorically.

"And now it's on the whale." Sanji answered anyways.

What Luffy did, really upset the whale. This became a one to one combat fight, but it ended up into a draw as Luffy announced it and made a promise. A promise that they will return to Twin Capes.

"How does he know he'll come back?" Ayame questioned herself, curious and doubtful.

* * *

**An hour later. Ayame.**

Only Sanji, Usopp, Zoro and Ayame remained on the ship as Nami and Luffy left with Krocus on Twin Capes – just to talk after battling Laboon. Zoro had already fallen asleep, as Usopp and Ayame attempted to fix the Going Merry. Sanji was left to cook the Elephant Blue-fin Tuna that he got from Logue Town.

Usopp hammered the nail into the mast. "Damn! How dare Luffy break the ship!" he muttered to himself, "Geez! This was given by Kaya and this is a one-and-a-kind ship – I mean, c'mon!" he continued ranting as Ayame kept hammering, then she looked at Usopp.

"... Right Ayame?!"

She paused and turned to him, "I'm sorry. Were you talking to me? After all this time?" she questioned indifferently as he irked. She covered her ears as he flipped out.

Sanji came out, worried as Usopp accidentally hammered his finger. "Is everything alright, Ayame!?"

"Define 'fine'..."

"You're not hurt right? Blood? Bruises?"

"No blood, no bruises, no nothing. I'm fine," she answered, nodding. "It's just Usopp who's hurt."

Sanji sighed. "Oh! Alright," he left to continue cooking, not caring about the sniper.

Speaking of which, Usopp was still fuming. "HEY! GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT! AND GIVE US A HAND! THE SHIP ISN'T GOING TO FIX ITSELF YOU KNOW!" he screamed at the sleeping Zoro, who only replied with a grumble.

Ayame paused, thinking about what Usopp said about the ship fixing itself. "Hey," she continued, "In fact, I heard about a story about a ship fix...ing..." She saw him glare at her. "and I'll... stop... telling... my story... about... the ship... fixing... itself... now..." she muttered and quickly hammered the nails randomly on the metal that Krocus handed to them.

Usopp continued his rage by hammering nails to the metal as Ayame looked around, something was missing. Or should she say, the two weirdly named people were missing.

"Hey, Usopp, where did the prisoners go?" he just shrugged, not caring.

Sanji came out of the doors again, "For you, Mademoiselle~!" Ayame heard Sanji as he plopped down a dish and a refreshment for her with grace and skill.

"T-thank you." Ayame said as Usopp carefully placed a band-aid on her finger. It was just a splinter, but it was huge. The two had at least 5 band-aids on them.

Then he put down the other dish. "This is for Zoro. Doubt he's going to wake up any time sooner..." Sanji muttered, rolling his eyes. "Don't think that I'm ungrateful or anything."

"What about me?!" Usopp shouted as the cook scoffed.

"Yours will be up there where everyone else will be." Sanji pointed to the cliff where Nami, Luffy and Krocus is. He went back in and grabbed other plates with his waiter skills and went up to the other location. "Hey, help me, will ya?!"

"Jerk..." Usopp muttered and followed him, leaving Ayame all alone with Sleeping Beauty. She was cautious with fish meat, she never tried fish meat before or meat in particular. The magician pulled down her mask, she sniffed the food and took a little nibble.

_OH, MY GOD!_

It tasted so good! Tender, juicy, and delicious. In her life, she just ate fruits and vegetables mainly because she had no idea how to use the kitchen.

Ayame went to grab her drink, but something caught her eyes. A scar peeking out of Zoro's t-shirt. She forgot the drink as she shoved her mask up. Curiously and cautiously, she went to his side. Unashamed, she used her finger to gently pull down the v-neck to one side.

It was a deep scar.

Ayame looked at the scar, memorizing it. It was interesting and jagged. She wanted to know how he got it since it looked fatal. She wanted to see where it stopped, so she slowly lifted up the bottom of his shirt. It ended right around his hip.

Zoro wiggled a bit, but the magician payed no attention. When she was looking at his scar, she went in to touch the slightly bumpy-looking tissue. But she couldn't do it.

Because Zoro woke up, eyeing Ayame and wondering why she was too close for comfort. "Oi, pervert! The Hell are you doing?!" he shouted, jumping up as she stayed in her position.

Soon, she sighed and fixed her posture. "I was just curious about your scar." She answered simply and indifferently. Ayame was just too curious to bother arguing.

"While I was asleep!?" he questioned her, still shock and disturbed.

"How did you get it?" She questioned, still wanting to know and know who or what she's dealing with.

The swordsman sweat drop, "You really... want to know?" he questioned as he sat back down, staying a couple feet away from the magician. She nodded. "Er... Alright then, I encountered Hawkeye in the Baratie," he had a determined look on his face. "With just one slash, he did this. He deserved his title and I understand why from that day on."

Ayame looked at him in disbelief. "Hawkeye? And he let you live? A pirate?" she questioned superstitious. "Why?"

He grunted, "How the Hell should I know? Maybe I'm just stronger than I look." He boasted as she scoffed.

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't question me," he sneered.

Ayame rolled her eyes, "Look, just because I don't believe you. It doesn't mean that I don't respect you. It's just... why would Hawkeye do that? Isn't he one of the World Government's dogs?"

"He is," he uttered, "But I guess luck is with me. Also, I'm going to be the world's next Greatest Swordsman." Zoro said with determination.

The magician stared at him, silently. "Okay... now you lost my respect," she got up, dusting herself. "Sanji left some food for you," she grabbed the fork, get some fish meat. "Here."

"What are you-" Ayame shoved it in his mouth as he chewed, glaring at her. "Hey, this does taste good..." he muttered and she gave him his fork as he dig in. "Ya wan chum?" he questioned with his mouth full as she watched him.

"Uh... No. I already had some," she mumbled, eyeing him and his peeking scar. _I shouldn't mess with him. Surviving Hawkeye's attack? What is he? The man of steel? Geez... I didn't know people like him exist._

Ayame grabbed her drink and took small sips as she went to the stairs and sat down. She eyed him as he scarfed down his food. _He's a monster._

* * *

**A/N: **

**Yeah, it's going to be short now. But don't worry, I fixed most of my work in 2 nights of no sleep so more will be coming in a fast pace this week and maybe the next. What can I say? I live off sugar and whipped cream and video games and listening to Marina and the Diamonds. **

**My heart goes to all of you who favorite, review, follow and messaged! **

**Also, I'm currently studying my Learner's. I know what kind of car I want and therefore I am gonna study like a dork (Like I am now!)  
**

**Reviews~**

**~TDI-Ryro-Eclares : Oh it'll come soon! It'll come soon, fabulous!**

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**~Purple Dragon Ranger : -Died with a nosebleed- (Announcement: Give a tampon ****to the dead author ****on Aisle Four please! Thank you!)**

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**Thank you~ (Putting everyone! _EVERYONE!_)**

**K9 Train, KoToriNoKo, TDI-Ryro-Eclares, Haffi 121, MistGirl 1423, RandomPunk, Angelheat, smileysparklea, Purple Dragon Ranger, beautiful sun, hesmus, vampireprincessofempire, JackThRabbit, Faeyne Dreamwalker, KEEler 21, khr 216, nikkichu 112, Nebelkatz, mint aeros, Shiningheart of Thunderclan, fabulous guest**

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***I actually have at least 4 chapters done! Yay! So I might post one after this or tomorrow!***

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	10. Arrival to Whiskey Peak

**"****My problem, it's my problem  
That I never am happy  
It's my problem, it's my problem."**

**~ Are you Satisfied? _Marina and the Diamonds _~**

* * *

**Set Sail to Whiskey Peak. Ayame.  
**

After a few hours later, Ayame saw the prisoners on board when they set sail from Twin Capes. "Why are they here?" she questioned Nami suspiciously. "I thought they escaped." The magician glanced over at the blue haired girl and the strange man with number 9 on both of his cheeks. By then, Ayame noticed Nami's new gadget; a log post. Necessary to survive in the Grand Line.

She sighed with exhaustion lingering. "Well, It's not like we have a choice..." Nami muttered, "We have to deliver them to their island since they don't have a ship."

"We could just throw them in the sea and hope that they end up there." Ayame thought bitterly, seeing that they were not very reliable people in the first place. "I wouldn't mind," she said loudly so they could hear. The two cringed at the thought.

"On to the point," She stated and stared seriously at the magician. "Right now, all we could do is send them back. Besides we don't want any of their villager friends to come after us. We already have Marines after us-"

"IT'S SNOWING!" Luffy screamed as he and Usopp ran outside.

Curiously, Ayame went to look. "Huh, snow." The magician stated dully then she turned to Sanji. "A nice time for hot chocolate – you have some in the kitchen, right Sanji?"

"Of course~!"

"Put more of your homemade whipped cream!" she ordered, taking advantage of his 'undying' conditional love. "They taste like Heaven!"

"Oui, ma cheri~!" he sang loudly as he got to it.

"Okay, just call me when it's ready," she said and went to the girls room to find some warm clothes. She put on leggings and an over-sized sweater with embedded pink hearts. Ayame borrowed Nami's hot pink scarf, grey toque and gloves.

"Ayame~! You're hot chocolate," sang the cook and she immediately ran there. She was dying to taste the whip more than the chocolate. Once she was there, she instantly grabbed it and a spoon, leaving the place and up to the crow's nest.

She took down her mask, tasting the whip and mumbled, "Oh, my God it's so good!" she teared up and in 1 minute, she finished it. The magician pulled up her mask and went to return her glass.

Until someone threw a bundle of coldness to the back of her head, she fell, face planted on the deck filled with snow. She slowly turned to the perpetrator as she placed the glass down. There was Usopp, Luffy and a sleeping Zoro.

Luffy pointed at Usopp, who pointed at Zoro. "What just happened?" she questioned, dumbfounded.

"Snowball fight!" Luffy screamed happily with the largest grin in history, and started to creating snowballs in his hands.

"You're on!" Usopp agreed, knowing that Ayame wasn't angry. She stared at them confused.

"Wait," the magician told them, and they paused. "What's a 'snowball fight'?"

Usopp slapped his forehead. "Are you serious?! What was your life back then? Did you live under a boulder? You've never heard of this game?!"

Ayame looked away, slightly embarrassed. "No... Is there a rule in this game?" she questioned, "Is it point system or is it..." she trailed, then realized something. "to the death?" Ayame whispered the last part with large eyes. _I can actually kill them with this game and not be in trouble? Holy shit ba- _

"No," Luffy grinned. _Oh._ "Just aim and throw, and that's it! Whoever gets hit the most or gives up, loses! Simple!"

"Oh." Ayame said, still unconvinced and a bit disappointed. Her eyebrows furrowed with disinterest, it didn't sound as fun as she thought it would be.

"Yeah, and all you have to do is get a handful of snow-" She did what she was told and copied what Usopp did as he made one. "make it into a ball-" Ayame shaped her snow into a ball and looked at them for further information. "-and throw it!" he encouraged her with a bright smile.

The magician looked at her imperfect snowball, "Like this..?" she questioned unsure as she threw her snowball weakly on the ground in front of her boots. Usopp sweat dropped as snow started piling on their heads or hats. It was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and a winter wonderland.

"Yeah, like that!" Luffy smiled, encouraging her, "But throw it harder at someone!" he grinned. "**Harder**!" he repeated all pumped up to get the game started.

A wicked thought came in her mind. "Ooh." Ayame's eyes widened as her jaws nearly dropped, realizing that she could go crazy with it. _To the death it is..._ she thought seriously.

"Get it now?" Usopp questioned impatiently, only to be answered the bad-ass way, like this:

"SNOWBALL!" Ayame shouted with a crazed joy and threw the snowball, really hard (head shot too) at Usopp that he recoiled and fell backwards. He shouted how cold it was and quickly hid, making snowballs. The sniper threw many snowballs back at Ayame with perfect hits until she fell backwards.

Luffy started laughing hysterically, "YEAH! SNOWBALL FIGHT!" He screamed, fist pumping the air too, as Ayame continued throwing snowballs, madly, at Luffy and Usopp and she may have – at some point – they might have hit Zoro, but he didn't wake up. Thankfully.

Luffy hit the magician square in the face, only to be hit many times by the sharp shooter Usopp. "You better have back up Usopp!" the captain grinned, chasing him as he ran for his life. Ayame hit the captain with a larger sized snowball and he fell.

Ayame burst in the cabin where Nami, Sanji and the two strangers are. They looked at her strangely. She didn't dare hit Nami or Sanji (who was in his kitchen), so she aimed at Mr.9. "Snowball~!" She threw a snowball at him, hard on the face, and he fell off the bench by the table. He let out a really girly shriek of shock.

The magician threw 4 more at him even when he was already down, and she ran out screaming "snowball!"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, AYAME!" Luffy encouraged her as they sweat dropped at the magician's obsessiveness in the childish game. In fact, it was their first seeing her like that. It looked like she never had that much fun in her life.

"Don't encouraged her anymore!" Usopp shouted at Luffy. But soon, the snow decreased causing the three to stop.

"Aw," Luffy pouted, panting along with Usopp and Ayame. They were tired, but there wasn't a winner yet. "It stopped snowing..." The magician weakly threw a snowball at Luffy's head. He grinned and went to hit her, only that she used Usopp as a human shield.

"O-oi, Ayame don't-" Usopp shouted.

"AHH!" they heard Nami scream.

"What's wrong now?" Usopp questioned as the two crew mates shrugged. Ayame glanced over at Sanji, who stop digging the snow with the shovel. He had a couple snowball hits on him, it must have happened a couple of seconds ago while they were still rampaging with their game.

"Maybe there's something wrong with the log post?" Ayame guessed as Nami came out and started shouting at them orders. Apparently, they have drifted off coarse. It was getting stormy as well.

"Turn the ship around 180 degrees! Hurry!" Nami shouted at them.

"180 degrees?! Why are we going back?!" Usopp questioned, incredibly, on the cold ground.

"Did you forget something?" Luffy questioned innocently while he was making another snowball and threw it at Ayame, who shouted a couple colorful words and fell. "I win!" he fist pumped and giggled uncontrollably.

"The ship has turned around and it's going to the opposite direction!" She shouted, frustrated. "I only took my eyes off of the log post for a second! I thought the waves were calm so..." she drowned out as they looked at her expectantly. Then she went in and kicked Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 out of the room. "Brace the yard - we have no time left!" she order as she came out again. "Receive the wind from the starboard! Turn the ship 180 degrees to the left!" she said and repeated, "Left!"

"Usopp! Take care of the sail!" Nami ordered loudly and pointed.

"Got it!" he answered, getting up and running.

"Sanji! Take the helm!"

"Leave it to me~ my love~!" he answered smoothly and ran to the helm with his hands up.

"Ayame, go on look out!" she ordered and she nodded and went to the Crow's nest. "God forbid there will be an iceberg up ahead! And work, you two!" the crew heard her yelled at the two 'weirdos'.

Ayame took off her glove, and licked her finger. The wind changed from a different direction. "Nami! The wind has changed!" she told the navigator, looking up at the sky; the sun was coming out of the clouds.

"No way!" she exclaimed, still shock at the dramatic changes. This was out of her league.

"The first spring gale!" Mr. 9 exclaimed with Miss Wednesday taking their time to breathe in the air. Yes, it was fresh and a bit warm but right now they were in a crisis.

"Yo!" Usopp passed by Zoro, "Wake the Hell up Snowman!" he yelled at the snow-covered swordsman, "We're in a damn crisis!"

"Ugh... 5 more hours..." he answered tiredly as the view grew foggy.

Then Ayame drew her attention up ahead, seeing a white lump in the water, "Nami!" She shouted and pointed right in front of them as the fog slowly went away. "I think there's an iceberg from the book Titanic in 10 o'clock!" she shouted seriously. "I knew that thing will haunt me..." the magician mumbled to herself, ignoring her duties.

Usopp looked up, and yelled at Ayame. "Hey! Stop mumbling and watch!" She huffed and did what she was supposed to do.

Then the fog came back again, which caught everyone's attention again. "This is crazy!" Nami screamed horrified.

"Sanji! Turn right! All the way!" Ayame shouted as Nami was frozen on her spot. Sanji did as he was ordered.

"But we're going to crash!" Usopp screamed.

"Keep it down and let me think!" Ayame shouted through the crashing waves. "We need to keep calm! Otherwise we _will_ crash!" Nami went to help Sanji with the helm, as they came near to the iceberg. "Usopp! If there is any damages, I want you to be the first one to get the supplies – I'll help later on! Nami, after you're done helping Sanji, I want you to go back to navigating us! I'm not an expert in navigation, you know!"

Nami was surprise by her orders but didn't argue at least someone's brain was focusing on survival. "Right," she said, getting back in the game as they grazed lightly on the iceberg.

"Water's leaking at the bottom of the ship!" Luffy exclaimed as he ran by the manhole and opened the wooden door.

"GOT IT!" Usopp ran over there with his supplies and tools, "Ayame, I'll need your help!"

"Coming!" she yelled through the changing weather of rain and clouds.

"Quick! We got to hurry!" Nami shouted through the harsh winds.

"It's strong!" Luffy yelled as he held his straw hat down in place, referring to the wind.

"Pull in the sails! The wind is too strong! We're gonna overturn!" Nami screamed in order for all of them to hear.

Sanji came out with delicious rice balls, "Everyone needs to eat! You need to keep your strength up!" He announced and everyone grabbed one and stuffed it in their mouth. But knowing the captain, he took the most. Luffy went to tend the sails right after.

* * *

**Hours later. **

Everyone sprawled on the ground, passed out due to the exhausting labor. Everything was all right now; clear skies, calm sea, and they were headed towards 'Whiskey Peak' with the right direction.

The crew heard a familiar noise coming from Zoro as he yawned, they felt him stare at them with disappointment. "Oh, c'mon. The weather's nice and all, but that's no reason to be lazy." He muttered as his crew mates irked. "We better be on the right track, that's all I have to say."

Only one thing came to their minds was: "Shut up, you bastard."

"Huh?" Zoro questioned, looking at the prisoners from before. "What are you two doing here?"

_That Cactus slept through the whole ordeal? _More irk marks came to the magician's head, along with Nami.

"You fool!" Mr. 9 screamed at him, exhausted. No one could blame him after all.

"We're on a side mission to take them home!" Luffy answered grinning, popping out of nowhere. "Town's called Whisky Peak."

"Since when did we became a transport service for thugs?" Zoro muttered, not liking the idea.

"Well, you weren't awake to decline," Ayame glared at him as he ignored her. "Hey you jerk! I'm talking to you-"

"So," Zoro started as the others saw a very dark orange aura surrounding Nami. She marched down the stairs. "What were your strange names again? Because I don't think you can be trusted." Both the weirdly named people backed away in fear as his glaze got intense. The magician felt chills on her spine, the way he stared at them felt life-threatening, like he could take their lives away in an instant. God, if she was in their spot, she'd probably back away from him and go overboard.

"Oh.. Well... My name is Mr. 9." He said, gulping and nervous sweat covered his body as he backed away slowly along with the female he was with.

"And I'm called, Miss Wednesday." She told him with a nervous, twitching smile.

"Right..." Zoro trailed in disbelief, knowing they were lying to him. "You know those names sound familiar-" he inched closer, making them yelp and cling to each other for help and comfort. Zoro was somewhat like a nightmare taken in human form.

Nami was closing in to Zoro with a fist threatening to collide to his head.

"Go, Nami." Ayame mumbled in the background, secretly cheering. But she was just too tired to move from the stairs that she collapsed on an hour ago.

"-in fact, the more I think about it, the more I'm certain that I heard of it somewhere-"

Nami stood behind the swordsman and punched the back of Zoro's head. But due to the force, his head collided to the floor and bounced back.

* * *

**Whiskey Peak.**

As the Straw Hats came near the island after Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 jumped overboard and swam to the island. They heard laughter and cheers moments later. The pirates were confused and taken back by all the flattering comments.

"Is this even normal...?" the magician mumbled as she saw a 'Welcome' sign. "I think they're either mentally deranged OR mentally retarded. What do you think?" Ayame turned to the others.

"Both... just like you," grumbled Zoro, crossing his arms.

"Gee, thanks." Her eye twitched as she stared at him. "Like I was asking you," she muttered under her breath, looking away.

"What was that?!" Zoro held his swords carefully, glaring at the magician.

"Nothing, nothing!" she squeaked waving her hands frantically, "Just... calm down!" He only grunted and walked away from her.

"Oh, yeah~!" Sanji cooed and googly-eyed some girls on the land. "I've never seen so many cute girls in one place!"

Luffy and Usopp were enjoying the praises they were being given as they played along.

"Hey you three!" Ayame shouted at Luffy, Sanji and Usopp, "Don't be fooled by this, it could be a trap. Because pirates don't have fans-" She turned to the three easily swayed boys, they were too busy with their fans showering them with pseudo love. Ayame irked, "Are you even listening to me?!" she brought her fist up as more comical veins popped around her head and fist.

"Just let them be," Nami rubbed her forehead, "They're just idiots."

* * *

**Welcoming Pirates.**

"Wel-" A tall man was interrupted with a cough, "Ma-ma-ma-ma! Welcome!" sanged an odd-looking guy with an old-fashioned wig that a jury would wear. "I am Igarapoy. It is an honor as Mayor to welcome you to Whiskey Peak!"

"Oh, great. I'm Luffy," he introduced himself, a bit insensitive at the beginning. Then pointed at Igarapoy's head, "Nice hair, I like the curls." He grinned childishly and rudely.

Ayame looked around refusing to go down with those people. She carefully watched for any false promises around. But found nothing. But this won't fool her, villagers loving pirates? That's insane! She wouldn't like pirates in her hometown - they'll just thrash the whole place and take everything. She hesitantly got out of the ship and climbed down by the rope ladder.

"What took you so long?" Zoro noticed the magician and questioned, but he honestly didn't care. Although, he was more curious with her answer. It could help him why he didn't really like her. Normally he'd be fine with mysterious people, but Ayame seemed like a dangerous specimen. She avoids most questions, and he hopes she doesn't avoid his question otherwise he has no choice but to be suspicious.

"Do you care?"

And there it is, a question being answered by a following question. "On the second thought, no." He scoffed, directing his eyes elsewhere.

"Then why question in the first place?!"

"Just to irritate you, Demon Spawn."

Ayame followed him, "Hey, you Cactus! HEY!" she tried to get his attention, but a couple of overly welcoming villagers attacked her with questions on her appearance. They wanted her to show her face so badly that they were trying to pull it down. She glared at them and said nothing as she barged through.

"Come, we'll take you to your friends," one said as they grabbed each of her arm.

"You better," she mumbled, yanking her arms from their grip. "Just stop touching me." But they didn't listen, "I SAID _STOP TOUCHING ME_!"

* * *

**Pirate Party.**

Ayame wander the place, looking for Nami or Zoro. She decided to stand up on the table since her height wasn't exactly tall, "A-ha! Found that bastard of a Cactus!" she said aloud and got down from the table with the unnecessary help of someone walking by.

"Oh, hey, be careful there, darling," an average height man caught her and helped her down. "You could've hurt yourself." He winked which caused her to despise him even more.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get the Hell outta my way, stupid. And don't call me 'darling'." She waved him off, but he continued to bother her, directing her else where. "And not only you are stupid, you're a damnation. Go away."

"The name's Kisho. And yours?" He took her hand and kissed it. She abruptly wiped her hand on his shirt.

"Do not... do that again."

"I won't unless you let me see your face, sweety."

"What did I tell you people?! I said no and it will always be no – You know what? SANJI!" Ayame yelled as her arms waved around, "SOME GUY IS TRYING TO BE FORCEFUL ON ME!" she wailed and instantly the man ran off. _Worked like a charm. _She smiled as she knew the cook was too busy with the women surrounding him and the women are trying to keep him. The magician sighed, she had to look for that swordsman again. She shoved and pushed and kicked them out of her way. She made a small path for herself, but there was so many tall people blocking her way.

"Ayame!"

"Nami! I finally found you-" _And Cactus. _She eyed the man on the sofa, itching to get a drink.

"Great! You can join this drinking contest with Zoro and I! Winner gets..." She giggled evilly and obsessively. "1,000 Beri~!"

Ayame looked at the purple drink, "With grape juice?" she questioned, shrugging, "All right then, I'm game." She agreed as the man yelled 'Go!' for the drinking contest. _It's just grape juice, so what's with the drinking game?_ The girl took a tiny sip and grew dizzy. _This isn't... juice...!_

"OH! And the girl who just entered just passed out! I guess a little alcohol was too much for her!" the referee announced, laughing.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I decided to put another one because I felt like it! -smiley face- **

...

***Might put another one just so I can fix my chapters then I'll disappear for a week (or two) and write more chapters for my stories and upcoming ones***...

**Reviews~**

**K9 Train : Lol, it just had to be there! Sanji is just adorable in an eccentric way!**

...

**Stay Fabulous~! **

**I know you will this weekend! I can taste it. I think.  
**

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	11. Ethnics and Kevin

**"SHUT UP. You confuse me..."**

**~ Unknown ~**

* * *

**Drinking Contest, 12AM. Roronoa Zoro.**

Zoro nearly spilled his drink when Ayame's head hit his lap, she cuddled him like a pillow. "Nami!" the swordsman called as he stared at the magician on his lap, trying to push her away. "Get this** thing** off me!" he told her, to be honest, it felt uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

"No! I'm drinking, don't bother me!" Nami slurred as he sighed, trying his best to tolerate the magician. _Damn these women._

After Zoro's 13th mug, he decided to give up and slammed his mug down. "That's it... I'm done.." he yawned and leaned back and slept, pushing Ayame who was cuddling him, which he _did_ mind. _Please just get the Hell off Demon Spawn._

When Zoro heard the last person leave, he decided to sneak out and figure out what's really going on. The swordsman took Ayame's arms that was around his waist, and unbind it. Then he carried her and placed her properly on the sofa. He knew the crew had worked hard on their journey, it was time for him to make it up. One way or another. Once Zoro had left the room, he went on the roof to see from a bird's point of view. After he had left, a man went to check up, only to find that Zoro missing.

"Sir! A pirate is missing!" the swordsman had heard from the bottom, seeing many people armed with weapons.

Miss Wednesday looked around and spotted him on the roof, "Hmph. He's right over there," she told them with an ego, seeing that he was the only pirate.

"You should've stayed with your friends while you were asleep." Mr. 9 snarled and got his gun.

"A true swordsman never makes a mistake by letting his guard down." Zoro smirked with an evil glint in his dark eyes, then he added, "Plus, I took a nap earlier."

"What should we do?" Miss Wednesday looked at Igarapoy.

"Eliminate him," he waved his hand, uncaring about the swordsman. "He is only one."

* * *

**3AM. Ayame.**

The magician woke up to large noises outside, her head hurt and buzzed as she held it. "God, was the alcohol?" she whispered to herself, fixing her eyesight on the dark. She only spotted Usopp and Sanji on the floor, they looked like they were stepped on multiple of times. _Where's Luffy? And Nami? And Cactus? _She thought, rubbing her eyes as she walked out of the room, the navigator was there. "Nami?" she mumbled groggily as she spotted the girl. "What's going on...? I hear fighting."

"Ayame, you're awake!" she exclaimed, looking at the girl's appearance; dark eye bags and a bedhead. "Well, the fighting you've heard was the villagers here. They were apparently bounty hunters and to my surprise, Zoro defeated them all-"

"What?! That Cactus?!" the magician yelled shock, waking herself up. "I can't believe it... All these people on the ground, he did that?"

Nami nodded, "Besides," she turned to the man on the floor, "this is Igaram, he's not actually 'Igarapoy'. It's just some stage name. But he's a good guy." She pat the magician's shoulder as her eyes began to look like beri signs.

"Why is your eyes like that?" Ayame questioned but didn't receive an answer, only a grin and a "heh heh heh~" was her answer. The magician sighed, looking at Igaram, taking in his bloody appearance on the ground.

"Well, I'll go check on Zoro and Luffy, I can hear them fighting in the distance." Nami said as her grin went upside down. "Those two fools - Honestly!" she muttered as she pinched her nose bridge.

"Do I want to know why there's a mutiny between the two?"

"Luffy thought that Zoro was being inconsiderate to the villagers. But our captain doesn't know about them being bounty hunters. Zoro actually saved us," The navigator said, looking surprised herself. "Ayame, can you help him? I need to deal with our crew mates," she pointed at Igaram as she left to find the swordsman and captain with her fists at the ready

"I'll try," the magician mumbled and went to Igaram, helping him sit up. "Where's the first aid kit?" she asked, which Igaram looked at her weirdly. "What is it?" She forced herself to say it through her mouth as she eyed him.

"You pirates are willing to help someone who just wanted to take your lives?" He questioned as he pointed at the house behind him. She refused to answer. She went in, got the white kit and opened the box. While she treated his wounds as well as she could. Ayame just followed the instructions on the back. "You didn't answer my question."

Ayame sighed, "I was just ordered to help, not answer any questions." She told him quietly.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Igaram questioned, only to be ignored. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

* * *

**Farewell Whiskey Peak.**

After Igaram bid farewell to Vivi, and he went to the small ship to go to Alabasta. But nothing went as planned as the ship exploded to smithereens. The Baroque Works have already made their move. Vivi watched in horror as she stayed frozen. Nami, Zoro and Luffy witnessed the cruel elimination.

The navigator grabbed Vivi's shoulders, "Look at me! We need to leave! Vivi, we need to leave **now**!" she shouted, shaking the young girl then dragging her to the ship. "Zoro, get the anchor! Luffy, go get the others!" They both complied and rushed.

Luffy came back with an unconscious Sanji and Usopp, but no Ayame. "AYAME!" the captain shouted, looking for her. "Ayame, hurry up and get on board! We're leaving!"

"Coming!" they heard a faint yell as she ran and grabbed the ladder. Once Ayame was up, she heard a loud 'quack' and she nonchalantly looked beside her and saw a big, yellow duck. "Oh, hey there." She nodded to it and turned away. The magician paused, _s_he took a double take, "Why is there a duck on board?!" Ayame shouted as she backed away. That was one over-sized duck.

"Oh. That would be my pet..." Vivi whispered quietly, looking at the magician.

"And why are you on board?" she questioned eyeing the girl as Nami came by.

"Ayame, _she's_ Princess Vivi," the navigator said as the girl with cotton candy hair nodded slowly, "She's the one we need to deliver to Alabasta."

It was early morning now. "Just how many people are after us?" Zoro questioned Vivi.

"I'm not sure." She answered as Ayame sat on the stairs, exhausted, thinking that Usopp and Sanji was missing. But in fact, Luffy already grabbed them back to the ship. "I know that there are about 2000 people in Baroque Works, and I've heard there are several town-like bases like this one nearby."

"They really might send that many people after us?!" Nami exclaimed, horrified and shock.

The magician heard two awakening voices behind her, she glanced. "Oh, the two dreamers are awake." Ayame mumbled, rubbing her forehead, "About time."

"Huh?" Sanji looked around frantically, realizing he was back on the ship and not with the women that surrounded him. "What?!" He exclaimed with horror.

"HEY! Why's the ship's leaving?!" Usopp shouted frantically.

"Hold on a second!" Sanji shouted, interrupting the sniper. "Can't we stay one more night!?"

"Yeah!" Usopp intruded as they both shouted at Nami, to which she became annoyed. In order for her to solve this, she reasoned them with her fists connecting to their heads.

Zoro, too, began to get restless with their whining, "Nami! Explain to them!" he told her and she responded: "I just did!" as she punched them once more.

"Okay... that was fast."

"That's because she punched them..." Ayame trailed and sighed. "I guess it was better if they sleep for now." She looked at Vivi's troubled look, the princess no longer had her English accent.

Nami casually walked away from the unconscious pirates she had beaten up and went to the main deck level.

"We should be able to leave the island soon enough." Vivi assured the pirates, her lips trembled.

"Is it possible there's someone following us?" Ayame questioned the princess.

"That's impossible, I eliminated the bounty hunters there." Zoro uttered, only to be whacked on the head by the navigator.

"Stupid! We're on _their_ wanted list!" she screamed at him. "I don't want to be in a wanted list!" she whimpered, her mood changed like the weather in the Grand Line.

"What?!" the magician questioned as she turned to the navigator, "How did that happen?"

Vivi turned to the questioning girl, "It was by the Unluckies – they're the surveyors of Baroque Works." She continued, "One is a bird and the other an otter, they did a quick sketch on Zoro, Luffy and Nami."

Ayame sighed, "I guess it can't be helped."_  
_

Hours came by as the sun began to show itself from the horizon or what adventurers liked to say, 'that trail we blaze!' and heads onwards. "It's almost morning," Nami sighed, relieved that there wasn't any agents after them.

"I'm just glad we got away from the people chasing us." A womanly voice came out, but no one realized until Ayame paused, trying to figure who it was. She turned and jumped back.

"Uh, guys?"

"That's for sure!" Nami exclaimed without realizing it was another woman.

"There's someone_ else_ on board," Ayame tried again, staring at the lady as she backed away.

"With this fog, we need to be careful of all the rocks." The lady mention and hinted that in early mornings, there's always a low tide.

"HEY!"

"I'll take care of it!" She answered again.

"I SAID THERE'S SOMEONE _ELSE _ON BOARD!"

"Wait. Did you...?" Nami trailed, looking at the captain.

"FINE! IGNORE ME!"

Luffy looked at her just as confused. "No..."

"I WON'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE ANYMORE!"

"This ship is nice."

"I HATE YOU ALL!"

Nami gasped. "What?!"

"You... You heard me?!"

"Who are you?!" Zoro turned with his hand on his katana.

"Nevermind..."

"It's... It's _**you**_!" Vivi exclaimed angrily as her eyebrows furrowed.

"I'll just sit on the stairs..."

"I just happened to run into your dear Mr. 8 a while ago." The mysterious woman smiled without feeling. It was just there.

"So _you_ killed Igaram!" Vivi held a very angered look along with a sneer.

"YOU! What are you doing on my ship!?" Luffy boomed, "And how did you get here?!" he yelled as he pointed his index finger at the woman. She was unfazed by his rude actions and words.

"Answer him!" Vivi yelled, gaining up on her. "... Miss All Sunday!" Her name was revealed to the others, she was a Baroque Work agent who happened to be Mr. Zero's partner.

* * *

**A Day Later.**

_Why would she offer us an eternal post to Alabasta? _Nami thought, thinking carefully. Just 4 hours ago, Miss All Sunday was on board in the early morning and had offered them an eternal post. _Could it be a trap? What's going on? Why would she do that? _Nami let out a frustrated groan as she placed her head on a beach table that she bought a couple weeks back. Ayame looked up at her from her diary or _memoir _as she liked to say. Vivi still stayed focus on staring at the table with a troubled look.

"You sound like a cow," the magician stated emotionlessly. The navigator realized the different personality of her friend, it just changes frequently and hard to describe her personality. It kind of made her mysterious, fitting though as the young girl was a magician. Ayame went back to writing, "I'm putting that in my memoir." She smiled as her eyes creased.

Nami only groaned again. "All I could think about is that woman's offer."

"Don't buy it," Vivi said suddenly as her eyes had a flash of anger. "It's most likely a trap. You can _never_ trust an assassin."

Interested, this caused Ayame to look up again, "So... this whole ordeal," she trailed slowly. "We're dealing with _assassins_?"

"Yes," she nodded, "I know what they're capable of and I know that trusting an assassin is fatal. They can be charming, mysterious or whatever, but "

"You have a point there," Ayame agreed. "Are there... strong ones?"

"Well, duh!" Nami burst, standing up. "Assassins are terrifying! They can attack you in blind spots or when you're alone!" she continued, "Just thinking about that scares me!"

Ayame looked at her memoir, writing down what they were talking about in short form. "But I want to know how the strong they are so I can run away from them when I see them," the magician reasoned, to which the navigator thought over and reluctantly agreed.

Vivi looked down as Sanji came by giving them fancy-looking drinks of different colors. Red, blue and green with sugared fruits on the rim – the flavors were cherry, blueberry and lime. They all took one, not caring who got what. "Well, I was Miss Wednesday and my partner is Mr. 9, anyone lower than 9 is bound to be stronger. But appearances..? I barely knew most of them. Sorry for the little info."

"That sound like a pain in the ass."

"Ha! That's what I thought!" Nami agreed with Ayame as a large bird swooped down. "Oh, mail's here!" Nami announced. Soon, she was talking to the bird, trying to bargain the newspaper price.

Vivi noticed the writing on the cover of Ayame's memoir. "You're Greek?" she questioned, impressed as she looked up at her. She nodded silently, "Yeah."

"Really?" Nami questioned as she got the newspaper and also a package. She smiled, "I'm Swedish! What about you Vivi?"

"I'm Egyptian." Vivi grinned as she turned to the boys who was entertained with her pet duck, trying to get Karoo to drink the beverages. "What about the others?"

Nami turned, pointing at the boys. "From what I know, Luffy is Brazilian, Usopp is African, Sanji is French and Zoro is Japanese."

"It's my first time seeing people from different ethnics." Vivi whispered as Ayame wrote that information in her memoir.

"Same," Nami agreed.

"Sure..." Ayame said as she continued writing, "I guess."

The navigator looked at the package and read it, "Ayame this is yours."

"Me?" she questioned, "I wonder what this is..." as she grabbed it, examining the packaging. She took her precious time at it too. The magician opened the package. The three girls peered in and sweat dropped, "A rock?" they questioned.

"Why a rock?" Vivi questioned as Ayame stared at it like it was gold.

"I'm naming it Kevin."

"It's a _rock_ Ayame!" Nami told her, "Look how round it is! Plus," she touched it, "It's cold and it has the texture of a rock!"

"Who is it from?" Vivi questioned, looking at the package. This caused Sanji to run up to where they were, on the front deck, behind Merry's fixed head.

"It's from..." Ayame looked, "Requiem. No wonder," she sighed, "He's such a weird b-"

"He's not your boyfriend is he?!" the cook shouted frantically, "I could be anything you want! ANYTHING!" he cried, "I... I can change you know?! I can change!"

Nami growled and punched his head, "Sanji, go away!" she turned to Ayame and grinned, "Who is it..? A boyfriend?"

"Relax you two," Ayame sighed, irritated with their conclusions. "Requiem is my older brother."

"B-Brother? I didn't know you had a sibling." Nami said as she forced Sanji away. "You never said anything about your family."

The magician just smiled, "You never asked."

"You're lucky to have a sibling, I'm an only child." Vivi said, looking down. "I always want one, a sister to fight clothes with or help me dress. Or an annoying brother that I could teach or a protective brother." She said in a dreamy way.

Nami smiled, "I miss my older sister. You guys should meet her one day," she sighed, nostalgic. "We aren't exactly related by blood though."

Ayame turned to her, "You're..." her eyes slowly widened.

"Adopted, yup."

"I see..." Ayame got up, "I'm going to show everyone Kevin." She announced and left.

"Kevin's a rock, Ayame!" Nami shouted after her, rolling her eyes. But then she sighed, turning to the newspaper, reading the latest news. It had something about Alabasta.

After showing everyone Kevin, there was still one more person. The swordsman who was sleeping on the deck.

"Zoro," she shouted in front of his sleeping form. It didn't work, so she shouted again and again. After shouting his name for 1 minute straight, Ayame began to realize that she had to wake him up the hard way. She kicked him hard, causing him to fall over.

"Oi!" He yelled wrathfully and got up with his sword at the ready, but she dismissed that. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" he growled dangerously.

"I wanted to show you a rock my brother gave me!" She told him and showed the round rock.

His jaw dropped as he sheathed his sword back. Then he irked, "... Nani?!"

"'Nani'?" the magician questioned confused as she look at him expectantly. "I've heard that before... It means 'what'-"

"You woke me up just for that stupid thing?!" he growled, fiercely, interrupting the girl.

"Hey! Kevin. Isn't. Stupid! _You're_ stupid!" She brushed her hair at his face and walked away - or in this case, slowly galloping towards the sun. "The least you could do is say 'Hi' to Kevin." She rolled her eyes, continuing her slow imaginary unicorn gallop.

"IT HAS A NAME?! Are you deranged-" He stopped himself and mumbled incoherent things.

"You're welcome." Ayame said indifferently and left with her head up as she held Kevin up, basking him in the sunlight.

"I DIDN'T SAY 'THANK YOU'!" He shouted angrily and she happily galloped back to Nami and Vivi, who happened to be watching with a sweat drop rolling down their face.

Ayame sat down on the white plastic chair. "What?" she looked at them, confused. "I needed to show Kevin that Zoro can be a jerk sometimes. That way, Kevin will grow up to be strong and beat that bastard up."

"Since when did rocks have feelings?" Nami whispered to Vivi, but the princess could only shrug. They watched Ayame place Kevin back in the box, gently and slowly.

* * *

**Night.**

"You sure you want to go on look out _again_?" Nami questioned Ayame, a bit startled and incredulously. "It makes me wonder if you ever sleep." She looked at her with doubt as she eyed her outfit. The magician wore a bear onesie and had her hood on with matching slippers. At least she won't be too cold.

"Well, I did take a nap in that bar in Whiskey Peak. So, don't worry," Ayame pushed her to the girl's room, pushing her on the bed, passing by Vivi, who was getting ready to sleep on Ayame's bed. Karoo was already asleep on the corner. "I'm not even sleepy―I've also got Kevin with me."

Vivi shook her head already in her pajamas. "Kevin is a rock," she mumbled, but Ayame didn't listen as she grabbed the packaging, a pillow and a blanket.

Ayame pushed Nami in her bed and she gave her a little shove―making her fall to the bed. The magician ran out, shouting "Night!" with the package in her hand.

"Shut up!" they heard Zoro and Usopp shouted from the boys' room.

Once she was on the Crow's Nest, Ayame took Kevin out of his box and she wrapped a blanket over herself with Kevin on her lap. _Now... for the real package. _She opened the box, looking down at the ship, looking for anyone awake. _I'm safe. _She sighed and dug through the confetti and lift up a fake bottom. There was a manila envelope.

"I knew it." She whispered and grabbed it. She opened the envelope and opened its contents. "It wasn't from my brother after all." She sighed, "It was too good to be true."

_**Assassin's Guild**_

It had said and she sighed. _Of course they'll find me once I entered their domain, the Grand Line. So, I wonder what they want me with me. _She opened the files and skimmed through. She paused after seeing one paper. Ayame went back to look for it again and read the paper.

She guffawed. "Assassination of the Straw Hats?" she questioned lightly. "How original," she commented sarcastically. "I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to do their dumb, boring jobs." The magician looked at the price. "Not even worth it. It's just Luffy's wanted bounty."

_Although... I could use 100 million beri. _She thought carefully, _Besides, I could just poison him. But then what will I do with the crew? Maybe I'll wait until they **all** have bounties._

Her thoughts went to Usopp, the kid who saved her. She became his 'friend'. She sighed, _Sorry Usopp, I guess that means you might be my next target. _Ayame didn't feel any remorse about it. She didn't see any use with friendship any ways. This made her remember the words from Vivi's mouth: _"... trusting an assassin is fatal!"_

_How true... _ Ayame read the papers and put the things back inside. She returned everything in the box, including Kevin. _  
_

* * *

_**Morning. 7:45 AM.**_

"AAAHHHHHHH!" Everyone fell on the floor from the blood curling scream.

Sanji recognized the voice and bolted out the boys room screaming "Ma cheri!"―with Zoro and the others following behind. The found Ayame running around as if her life was in danger. It probably is since they've never seen her like that.

Zoro was about to shout and question "what the Hell is going on?!" until he saw a black and a bit of gold blur chasing Ayame. He held onto his katana in a defensive stance. An intruder on board?

"HELP!"

"What is that thing?!" Usopp shouted and hid behind Sanji and Zoro.

"Don't know..." Sanji muttered, "BUT THAT THING IS SCARING AYAME~!" He shouted as Ayame ran around, screaming a lot of things. "Just stay calm Ma cheri!"

"Nami!" Ayame wailed as she ran toward the orange haired girl. "That thing _ate_ Kevin!" But before Ayame could come 3 feet closer to the crew, she tripped and fell. The "thing" jumped to Ayame's back with it's little baby tooth sticking out and started purring and rubbing it's baseball head on Ayame's head. "Get it off! Get-it-off! Getitoff!" she screeched, like a little girl complaining with her feet and fist hands pounding on the deck.

The crew was taken back by the creature as they tilt their heads to the side, watching for a couple minutes. The navigator made her move.

Nami awed and held the black fox. "Ayame, it's a baby fox! Oh, look at it's adorable gold eyes! I've never seen something like this!"

"Pew~!" It mewed happily and Nami hugged the adorable creature as Ayame rubbed her head as Sanji picked her quivering form up.

"Oh, that's a fox from the New World!" Vivi came and pet it's over-sized head. "I read about them! I've heard that these are the strangest creatures in the world since it can breed two ways; lay eggs or mate. And if they are in an egg, they're the most friendliest one. Because once it hatches, it follows the first living thing it sees – like a duck. I also heard that it grows really fast."

Ayame frowned as Luffy, Usopp, and Karoo started laughing at me. "I've been deceived..." she muttered as Zoro rolled his eyes. "Sorry for the outburst-"

"You woke us up for this?!" he shouted and she backed up. The laughter died down by now.

"Hey! It's not my fault! I thought that thing was about to devour me!" she defended, "Plus, it has claws and fangs!" she added, pointing at the places as it tried to escape from Nami's grip and to Ayame, causing the girl to flinch away.

"Relax, Ayame." Nami smiled and gave the baby fox to Ayame. "It's harmless! Plus it loves you!"

At first, Ayame held it away from arm's reach and stared at it for 2 minutes. It's tongue was sticking out with one growing fang on the top left. But she was curious about something. "Oh, hey... It's a boy." She stared at the gender and looked back at the thing nibbling her thumb. It started drooling on her.

Everyone anime fell―including the duck and minus Luffy―who continued laughing. "Oh, she's funny! I'm glad she's with us!" he laughed, holding his sides.

"THAT'S **HER** TAIL!" Zoro yelled for everyone.

"I guess... I'll call you Kevin," Ayame smiled, growing attached to her new pet as her tail wagged. She ignored the last comment and left. "Is Kevin hungry? Sanji make something for Kevin!"

"Will do~" he sang and ran to the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N: Okay. So you know how I said I'll make it short. I change my mind! It's hard to cram everything you want into something so small. So I'm putting my foot down and I'm gonna slap myself. Like so... -slaps self- and I'm gonna write how much I like.**

**Also, for those who wanted romance, it won't come until later in the story. That's why there's adventure in the genre. But I swear to you there will be ROMANCE in the Alabasta/Baroque Work Arc. But somewhere in between. I simply want to share the beginning - it's important and you'll see why in the later chapters****. **

***Important note! **

**This is a slow progressing love story. I mean it, it's really slow. I don't mind if everyone leaves at first, but as soon as you see the chapter 'Crush' or something like that, that's when you'll know the romance is on.**

**...**

**Reviews~**

**vampireprincessofempire : Everyone needs some sort of weakness :) And Ayame's weakness is alcohol~!**

**TDI-Ryro-Eclares : Ahahaha! I wanted to say that you won't learn a bit of her past until the next chapter and then I realized it was this chapter that had the little hint of her past. I can be a complete fail sometimes, Ryro-chan, no wonder I disappoint my dog and cat, lol.**

**...**

**And welcome aliennepton~!**

...

**Stay Fabulous~!**

**Because you know you can "LEROY JENKINS" better than your enemies~! **

**Fu fu fu fu~!**

_**~ Review ~ Rage ~ PM ~ Favorite ~ Follow ~**_


	12. Flashback Galore

**"No one believes a liar. Even when she's telling the truth."**

**~ Sara Shepard, _Heartless_ ~**

_*Note* About Kevin._

_In other POVs Kevin's gender will be a female because of course **everyone** but Ayame knew about that!_

_As for Ayame's POV, it'll be a "boy" because she's...uh...eccentric._

* * *

**A couple of days later.**

Zoro snorted as he exercised continuously with his dumb bells. He watched Ayame with disdain as she wrote things in her diary - or what she preferred _memoire_. Like he gave damn about diaries and _memoires._ But it was a bit interesting how focus she was in writing, it's like she was in her own little world. His eyes hardened, trying to penetrate in her brain, and wonder what she's thinking or writing. She didn't even flinch when her ball of fluff clawed her leg, climbing to the table and mewled. Ayame just held a bottle of lukewarm milk in her freehand as Kevin sucked on the rubber teat.

It's just whenever he looked at her, the more he wanted to investigate. Because the previous days before, he found her acting strangely - _nicer_ than usual. Helping everyone with duties, such as cleaning, with a that _sweetheart _attitude.

It made him sick.

Zoro quickened his pace, lifting his arms until he felt the soreness in his muscles.

**_Flashback..._**

_The swordsman watched carefully through the window as Ayame helped Sanji with the dishes, talking with a vibrant personality. She was swaying her way in the Love-Machine's heart, giving him smiles and laughter when he said something funny. But Zoro knew that inside, she didn't care about his jokes. It might be because she didn't understand most of it, seeing her constant confuse expression through the whole process._

_Zoro huffed and went to polish his swords. Just in case._

_Moments later that day, he found her throw down her hat and jumped on it with anger (he assumed) in the back deck of the ship. He found that strange and peculiar. _

_"Oi, just what the Hell are you doing?" he questioned, coming out of the corner, looking at her backside._

_Ayame froze, slightly craning her neck to see him with sweat rolling down her temples. She took a deep breath and uttered, "Nothing." It was a quick response to Zoro. He inched closer to her with a resolute expression._

_"Something tells me you're not saying the entire truth."_

_She smiled hesitantly, "You caught me." She said, a mysterious glint appeared in her ocean orbs._

_**...End of flashback.**_

Zoro relaxed his pace as sweat was building up and rolled down his skin._  
_

...

**Ayame.**

The magician wrote hesitantly in her memoire, feeling Zoro's harsh glares on her. All she could think was her failed mission and right now she had to be careful. She was still on a stranger's boat. She had nowhere to hide. Ayame mentally cursed herself, and she wrote:

_"Dear Memoire,_

_That Pirate Hunter Zoro is glaring at me. Again. I can tell his suspicions are too high. It's freaking me out - what the Hell is his problem? I didn't look too suspicious... I only stomped on my [now broken] beret with a bit of anger. I thought by wearing the sweetheart outfit I'd blend in. Stupid pirates... they can't see that I'm trying to get their trust? And damn that Zoro. I can't do anything properly without having him pester me! I hate this world... Or maybe I'm not that good with people. Well... shit. I don't have any people skills. Go figure. Assassin and all. Oh God, I can't help but think if he saw what had happened earlier. Dear brother and God, please help me._

_Yours truly, Ayame."_

She wrote with a little drawing on the bottom corner. She was tensed still from her memories. Ayame did had enough of this boring ship and she didn't feel welcomed at all. No thanks to that Pirate Hunter. And she was finding it hard to think of new ideas. She never wanted to get too personal with her targets. That would be a dangerous situation; one against 5 pirates and a princess and a huge duck. 1:7.

_**Flashback...**_

_2 days ago:_

_Night came by and Ayame felt ridiculous in her bear onesie. But it had to be done - besides it made her look innocent. She grabbed her pillow from the extra hammock she was sleeping on since she lent Vivi her bed. She silently tip-toed her way to Nami's sofa-bed. Right beside it was the emergency exit that leads to the men's room. She had to get to the other side. Vivi's duck snored loudly which gave Ayame an advantage._

_"Mew?"_

Oh shit. Kevin! _She thought as she turned to the little, fluffy fox who stared at curiously. "Shh!" she shushed the baby, but it continued mewling. "Shush Kevin!" His baby lips trembled, eyes were watering. "Nonononononono!" she whispered, panicking, leaning down and pet it. "Please be quiet," she continued as a light bulb appeared on top of her head. _Of course! _She thought as she placed him underneath Nami's arm. He cuddled her as Nami smiled silently in her sleep._

_While Nami was cuddling the ball of fur, Ayame immediately crossed her bed and silently opened the emergency exit, peering though. Everyone was snoring. She smirked devilishly, throwing the pillow in the crowded room then hauling herself in. She was careful not to step on the occupied couch in front of her as she looked for Luffy. _

_He's going to be first._

_"Sorry Luffy," she whispered to herself after she shut the emergency door and went smoothly on the rugged floor. She spotted him on one of the hammocks as she walked over to his side. He had that ridiculous smile as he slept. She hovered the pillow over his head. _You're first, then everyone in this room. Then the next room. Sorry. _She let out a sadistic grin as she was about to suffocate him._

_"Erm..." _

_Ayame paused, looking at the moving object beside Luffy's hammock. It was Zoro - and he was about to wake up! Panic rise in her brain as she looked around to hide. Nowhere and nothing! She only has seconds to think of something._

_Zoro shifted and twisted in the hammock, groaning in his sleep and just when he squinted one eye open, he heard:_

_"Usopp... Usopp." A young girl's voice echoed quietly in the room, his eyes nearly shot opened when he figured who owns that voice. Ayame poked the sniper plenty of times with her free hand and the other holding the pillow. "Usopp, wake up." She whimpered, tears falling down silently. It wasn't because she was pretending to be sad. But she nearly died when Zoro woke up. It was tears of fear and relief. _

_"Gah...Hn...huh...?" Usopp groggily woke up, being rudely interrupted by his beauty sleep._

_"Usopp, I can't sleep. Usopp," whimpered she as she shook him a bit. _

_"Huh?" he was more awake than ever. "A-Ayame? Seriously at this time?" he rubbed his eyes as he sat up with a yawn drawn out. She wiped her tears and nodded._

_"You're not s'pposed to be here, demon spawn." Muttered the swordsman as he placed an arm over his forehead, watching her with a frown. "This is a men's room." He eyed her mask and that silly costume, "You look like a bear-bandit."_

I hate that guy. _She sneered mentally. _"Usopp..."_ Ayame begged, crying softly. "I had a nightmare."_

_That awoken Sanji as he sat up, hearing a damsel in distress. He craned his neck, trying to find the voice of a female. "Ayame~" he drawled with hearts hovering his head. "You look adorable in that onesie-" he paused when she turned around, giving him those goo-goo blue eyes. She needed a reason to stay. She needed to eliminate them, silently and swiftly. He quickly scrambled out of the hammock and went in front of her with a concerned look. "Ayame, ma cheri, what ever is the problem?" he asked sweetly as Zoro scoffed, returning to his slumber._

_"I had a nightmare." She continued with the lie as Usopp had fallen back to sleep as well. "I was forced to-"_

_The cook gently placed a hand on her shoulder, soothing her, "There, there." He smiled a bit too discomforting to Ayame, but she had no choice. "Why don't you sleep with me? Hmm?"_

OH. NO! _Ayame flinched, her plans foiled right in front of her. _You best be kidding. _She frowned, but nodded anyways. She was hesitant to know if she had another chance to try again. Sanji nearly melted and led her to the other couch. He took her pillow and placed it on as he got in first. Sanji patted on the space on the edge as she reluctantly obeyed. Ayame faced her back toward him as she glared at the floor. _

_Sanji couldn't help himself as he hesitantly placed his arm around her waist. Almost instantly he melted and was knocked out. Ayame felt an uncomfortable weight around her as she tried to get out of his death grip. That night she spent trying to get out from Sanji's lock hold._

DAMMIT ALL! _She screamed mentally._

_Mission failed._

_The next day:_

_"This will work. It has to!" Ayame muttered as she wore a beret and a very red top paired with dark jeans. She didn't care about getting more bounties anymore. Luffy's bounties suffice. For some reason, she felt that 100,000,000 beri would just do. She just wanted to leave. Just finish the job and hopefully she can return to hiding. No more adventures for now. Especially with pirates!_

_Ayame walked in the kitchen with a broad smile even though it was hidden behind a mask. "Sanji!" she burst in joy, like she had found Waldo. "There you are! You want help?" she popped by his side, catching him washing the dishes._

_"Oh~ You don't have to, ma cheri!" He smoked out hearts from his cigarette. _

_"I insist!" the magician shoved herself in as she started cleaning._

_"Oh! You're such a sweetheart!"_

_"Why, thank you, Monsieur!" she swayed in the conversation, hoping French accent sounded okay. _

_After cleaning the dishes, Ayame told Sanji she was thirsting for his special tea. He complied instantly and rampaged the whole kitchen looking for every ingredient. He didn't bother to focus on the magician as cooking was his life and pleasure. Ayame smirked as her hands were in her pockets; one hand was swirling a small vial filled with a translucent liquid. _Hopefully this will do, _she thought silently as Sanji got the kettle. _This is the only bit of poison I have on me... There's not cure to it. This will do.

_"Are you done yet?" Ayame questioned a bit bored, she hasn't killed anyone in a long time. In fact she only had assassinated 12 people - all were just regular faces you see on the streets. Ayame was never in the front line battle. She was always in the shadows; silent and invisible. She liked being unknown and a bit traditional. There are some assassins who liked being personal but never Ayame. In truth, she was intimidated by it. _

_"Almost~!" he shouted as he grabbed some rosemary and mint. The aroma was pleasant to the nose and it nearly swayed the assassin. He added a couple drops of citrus and swirled that around. "Done! Now, let me get everyone else. Could you be a dear and pour my specialty in the cups~?"_

_"Of course," she nodded, watching him leave. Ayame move in quickly and dumped the whole entire bottle in the hot beverage. She grinned as she mixed it in with a spoon. Then she did what she was instructed to do._

_The door opened quietly, Nami and Vivi were talking to each other as they walked in. Then came Usopp and then Sanji. _Where is that Cactus and the captain?!_ She growled mentally as Sanji grabbed the tray. "What about Luffy and Cactus?" she interrupted Sanji. "In my religion, everyone is supposed to be in the kitchen if there was a meal or snack time. It's proper."_

_The cook scoffed, "That swordsman only accepts liquor-" _Are you kidding me?! _Ayame shouted in her brain. "And Luffy's coming-"_

_"I'M HERE-" he flew by as the magician froze, feeling him collide into her then to the ground. "Huh? Oh. Sorry Ayame!" he snickered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Where's the tea?"_

Why this little lily-livered, slug-faced, oompa-loompa monkey problem...! Why did he have to jump everywhere! Geez! _She nearly shoved him off her as she got up on her own. __"No, I was in the way! Sorry." _I'm lying you jerk. That hurts! _she rubbed her sides and shoulder._

_"MY SPECIAL TEA!" whimpered Sanji, making Ayame turned to him with wide eyes. The tea set and the tea was spilled and broken. There was nothing to do, it's spoiled. _

_"Ayame you look pissed..." Usopp pointed out, "Over tea? Really?"_

_She bit her tongue, refusing to yell. "I wanted to try it." She forced out slowly, "Excuse me." Ayame pushed pass Luffy and went to the rear side of the boat whilst everyone but Luffy went to do their businesses. He was forced to clean up. _

_The magician threw her beret on the floor and stomped on it repeatedly, looking like a child who didn't get what she wanted. _That boy is just lucky. Luck runs out eventually, right? Dammit! I hate this! Now what am I supposed to do?! Killing them in their sleep is out, poison is out - what do I do?! _She questioned herself. Ayame had no creative killing methods. Other than poisoned darts or needles, murdering the victim while they were asleep and just plain poison. _

_"Oi, just what the Hell are you doing?"_

_"Nothing..." she froze, refusing to look at him._

_"Something tells me you're not saying the entire truth."_

_Ayame smirked, gathering her time to make some sort of lie. "You caught me," she turned as she caught him holding his swords. "I didn't get to drink the special tea. So... I took out my anger on my hat." She stared at him, innocently as he glared at her for a couple of minutes. She forced herself not to flinch or anything. "Why?" she finally questioned._

_"Get lost," he said suddenly. "This is my training ground."_

_"Sorry," she mumbled and took her broken beret and ran off._

**_...End of flashback._**

Ayame sighed, closing her memoire and silently placed her head on it. She was utterly alone and bored. She didn't want to join in with anyone nor did she want to chat. The assassin was too indulged with her own thoughts.

"HALT! YOU PIRATES!" screamed a manly voice.

Straw Hat Luffy and Usopo peered through the door from the kitchen, "Hey, it's Ayame's stalker! HI THERE!" the captain screamed back, waving his arm frantically. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Ayame lifted her head and looked at the Marines. "Jagger?" she questioned quietly as Nami and the others piled on the deck.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE THE PIRATES FROM THE BARATIE?" he screamed angrily as he pointed accusingly at them. "AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH?! HUH?! NOT ONLY DID YOU NOT MENTION THAT - BUT YOU STOLE MY FIANCE!" he grabbed his bamboo stick and held it high as if he was trying to frighten them.

Ayame looked down in humiliation and ignored the Marine captain. The pirates only sweat drop at the sudden outburst. Jagger's face was all crimson red as steam escaped from his ears and nose.

"Fiancé?" Vivi inquired looking at everyone. Nami turned to her and giggled softly, pointing at Ayame who looked a bit irritated. "Oh... unintentional, I take it?" The navigator nodded. "Well, he looks too old for her anyways..." she trailed softly with a sweat of bead rolling down her temple.

Captain Jagger turned to the blue-haired female and nearly choked on the air he inhaled, "PRINCESS VIVI?!" he screamed yet again as he flinched back. "YOU...! YOU STOLE A PRINCESS AS WELL! THESE DAMN PIRATES!" he nearly cried.

"But-" Vivi tried, her lips quivering as the man looked entirely serious.

"DON'T WORRY PRINCESS! I'LL SAVE YOU AND MY FIANCE!" He turned to his men, "READY MEN?!"

"No," they chorused. Most were wiped out for overexerting themselves. They must have dealt with the canal to the Grand Line, seeing their ship was missing a couple of railings and they a few was still hammering some pieces together on the vessel.

The Marine Captain went to the other side of the vessel. He was planning to take a long jump to the pirate ship. "EN GARDE!"

"Luffy just push him off," Ayame mumbled, watching the man take his war cry to the pirate ship. "Too late..." she watched as Jagger somersaulted in the air and landed with a "ta-da!" and a broad grin. He stuck his bamboo stick out and pointed at each men.

"Who comes forth? Huh?"

"Don't worry ladies! I'll take care of him!" Sanji yelled joyously, sending them his love then turning to Jagger with a resolute manner. "Alright, you shitty bastard, what's with you, huh?" he questioned, his eyes lowered at the martial artist. But before he could get ready, the bamboo connected his waist and the cook was down. The fallen man wheezed and huffed.

"Mm-mm," he hummed a chuckle. "Who's next?!" he yelled after sending the women a corny wink and thumps up.

"Oh, we worry." Nami mumbled after watching the fight go on and Usopp hiding behind her. "What's with this guy Ayame?"

The girls watched as Jagger pushed the boys back and swat them plenty on the head. "Call him the corny version of Prince Charming," she answered, watching Zoro trying to cut the bamboo in half, she winced as the marine jabbed him in the gut.

"Why you-" Luffy glared, "GATLING GUN!" he send him furious punches, aiming for his face. But Jagger merely laughed, being a bit too egotistic as he twirled his bamboo in front of him like a cheerleader. The pirate captain noted that something was making him weak.

The marine whacked the rubberman's shoulder, one then the other. Luffy was brought to his knees, panting and muttering how he would kick his ass. Jagger knocked him down to his back and pressed his bamboo stick on his chest.

Zoro and Sanji coughed and panted. "What kind of bamboo is that?" the swordsman questioned, glaring at the marine. "I can't cut through."

"It felt like metal," the cook added.

Jagger let out a boastful chuckle, "That's because this is actually a sea stone. Meant for Devil fruit users, my pirate fiends!" He turned to women and animals and Usopp, "I saved you my ladies! I will do anything in my power to be your slave!"

"Slave?" Nami inquired, her eyes went to beli signs.

"Nami your eyes are freaky..." Usopp commented quietly.

"Yes, dear maiden! Anything!" he went on his knees and held her hand. "It is my duty as a man! As the handsome man of these devilish seas!" Then he went on with his speech. "Like a hero," he day dreamed, "Saving damsels in distress, becoming a slave to only women, being a man, to be the greatest martial artist to save every citizen from thugs and pirates! To become a role model for children-"

Sanji sat up, dropping his cigar as he envied Jagger. "He's so... cool," he whispered quietly.

"He's just an idiot." Zoro commented with an irk mark, irritated with the fact he was bested by an old man and a bamboo stick. It was shameful.

Jagger turned to Ayame and grabbed her hands, "If you'll bear my children-"

She ripped her hand out as everyone gap. "Jesus Christ!" she swore the Lord's name in vain. "I'm only 17!" she cried out as he grabbed her hand again.

"I can wait!" he yelled desperately, "JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE!" he hugged her legs as she stumbled, looking disturbed. "We're engaged okay?! OKAY?!" he clung onto her as she punched him on the head. Jagger just held on tighter.

"You said you'll do anything right?" Ayame gritted her teeth as he nodded, "Just go back to your ship. I wasn't kidnapped-"

"Nor am I," Vivi added. "We're just heading to Alabasta..."

"GREAT, I'LL MEET YOU THERE!" He bellowed as he stood up, "I'll save you again, when you really needed saving." Jagger bowed and glared at the men on the pirate ship. "If I hear rumors that you've been taking advantage of women, I'll throw you in the jungle without any weapons or food! And, if that won't work, I'll aim for the butt. So," he threatened as he made a hand gesture of a gun with both of his hand and jut it upwards. Secretly implying that he'll used the pointed end of his fingers to connect to the butt-hole. After he made his point, he made his long jump to his ship. "ONWARD!" he pointed to a random direction as his crew moaned and gathered the paddles.

Sanji ran up and held onto the magician, "You're not actually-" he teared up, feeling heart-broken.

Still uncomfortable, Ayame resisted to punch him off. But she never had the strength to do so. She was a woman, physically weaker than men. "Of course... not," she tried to say sweetly. But she really didn't feel like being touched by anyone. Maybe she was PMS-ing. Or the stress was just building up on her. It wasn't in her nature to be kind to everyone, she was used to being a woman of deception. She only recognizes cold and ruthless attitudes rather than silliness and laughters.

"He's strong," Luffy panted, sprawled on the ground. "AND HE'S A MAN!" he shouted, tears rolling down.

"How the hell is he a man?" Zoro got up and scoffed, "He's those overly attached boyfriends. He should have just taken Ayame." He muttered and walked off as Kevin stumbled after him. "Saves us from poking our asses."

* * *

**A/N:**

_This wasn't supposed to be too long. But... whatever! I hoped you enjoyed even though Zoro's relationship with Ayame is rather rough. She's just one of those girls that are hard to relate to. And Zoro also. I see him as a tough guy who strongly believes in himself. I can't seem to think that he's a willing man who accepts a stranger after 6 chapters in a story. After all, he didn't trust Robin from Alabasta to Water7/Enies Lobby. I know he still protected her... and all..._

_But... BLAME ZORO FOR HIS TRUST ISSUES!_

_Reviews~_

_Guest: Thanks! It's a reference from my childhood movie "Ice Age"! Stay Fabulously Crazy!_

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_..._

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**Boredoom, Bubixjiggy, Azrael 9296, BarbarellaBernardes and aliennepton~! **

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